Film: Charlie
Starring: Dulquer
Salman, Parvathy, Aparna Gopinath
Direction: Martin
Prakkat
Charlie appears out of nowhere, and disappears in the middle of the night. His friends include a thief, a street magician, a prostitute, a bunch of old men, and several other disparate set of characters. Some of them call him a ‘djinn.’ One of them compares him to the wind, which one can never get hold of. All that they have to share are fleeting interactions, most of them leading to acts of love and kindness from the man.
Tessa, a graphic artist, has run away from her house after her mother pressures her to get married. Looking for a place to hide and live, she ends up in the room earlier occupied by the ‘djinn’, a room without a lock, with masks and art work strewn across and a flight of stairs that leads to nowhere. The room and an incomplete graphic novel, starring Charlie and a thief, pique her interest, to go in search of the elusive man. Backed by Unni R.’s story, Martin Prakkat picks a path vastly different from his first two outings in Charlie . It progresses through Tessa (Parvathy)’s quest to find Charlie (Dulquer Salman), through the characters whose life he has touched in some way. It’s these side stories that make up some of the best moments in the film, be it the one involving the petty thief (Soubin Shahir) or the one on an old man’s wait for his childhood love. The minor characters are all well etched out with distinct identities.
But, somewhere along the line, it falls into the trap that has dogged our cinema for long. Charlie becomes so larger than life with each new story about him that we start to think that this person could not be real. Each new character we meet only repeats the story of the do-gooder in him. The other parts of his personality, except his bohemian lifestyle, remain hidden from us. Surely, one is bound to get bored from radiating goodness all the time.
The narrative is structured much like Charlie’s drifter lifestyle, jumping from place to place and story to story. This keeps the interest alive, even at times when the film goes a bit overboard in hyping Charlie. The character has shades of many of Dulquer’s previous roles, who are all prone to leaving home and tripping around. But unlike them, Charlie is not confused and is sure of what he wants, though at times he makes one feel that he is so full of himself. Tessa’s curiosity morphing into love is also a bit unconvincing.
Despite those quibbles, Charlie still gives us an enjoyable ride with a conscious attempt to stay clear of the tried and tested path. Minus one or two songs and a dose of believability on the protagonist, the film would have stood a notch higher.
S.R. Praveen
