Well, it’s about time people realised that there is more about films other than the cringe stories, unnecessary songs, unbelievable action sequences and repeated content. Bollywood films with well-established actors would generally pull the crowd to theatres with ease. But with time, the viewers opened their eyes to the type of contents they are being presented.
As the number of streaming services increased, the number of people utilising these services increased too. With the increase in internet access and the services, people have opened up and began viewing a wide range of films. Opening up to films of different languages is not even a problem nowadays as viewers are gifted with subtitles. And hence the quest of finding movies with reliable content began. Malayalam films gave a literal sigh of relief to the audience who are vexed with boring, repeated films.
One such noticeable and unique film is Charlie. The film opens with a casual conversation between an auto driver and a passenger who happens to be the heroine. The conversation gives a brief idea about what the heroine wants. One interesting thing in Charlie is that even the minor conversations deliver great meanings.
Tessa (Parvathy Thiruvothu) runs away from home to escape the forced marriage which was being arranged by her mother. She rents a room and demands the owner to sell all the things which were left by the previous occupant. She discovers that the previous occupant was Charlie (Dulquer Salmaan) and finds his picture and his comic. She finds the comic very interesting but finds herself at a dead-end when she realises that it is not yet finished. She meets several people digging about the rest of the comic. She goes on a search mission for Charlie and the remaining story. During this, she gets to know more about Charlie and finds him fascinating. Will she gets to know about the rest of the comic, will their paths cross or what happens after they meet makes the rest of the film.
Charlie doesn’t speak as a film or a story. It represents every bit of humanity which is present in the world. The film talks about the goodness in the world even if it is to make someone happy or helping someone’s dream come true or making people realise what they want. This film speaks volumes about all those who set to live life to the fullest without any plans. Charlie and Tessa have some similarities. They never prioritise something or someone. They tend to focus on the present and live their lives to the fullest. But Tessa was never clear about what she wanted. Charlie gave her the clarity she needed.
Charlie is a person who takes pleasure in seeing others happy. He doesn’t demand someone change, rather he brings a change. He brings people who lost hope in their lives together only to give them a reason to hold on to something in life. Besides, he is a free-spirited vagabond who fakes his death only to see the reactions of people around him.
As Tessa begins her journey to search for Charlie, she falls for his charm. In her search, she finds his do-good, live-life-to-the-fullest nature to be very intriguing. Along with Tessa, even the audience tend to find themselves attracted to Charlie. His aura makes everyone want to spend more time with him. As people watch this film, they embrace themselves and ought to explore more about Charlie.
If there is one thing that makes this film special, that is it talks about humanity and raw emotions consolidating vagabondism. Charlie, on the one hand, ought to live his life without any restrictions and on the other lives his life, giving people’s lives a purpose. Well, isn’t this what makes Charlie a wise man? Dressing in a Bohemian attire, laughing the heart out, leaving his mark wherever he goes is Charlie’s speciality.
The story about finding one’s self and doing good is something which added more authenticity. Cinematography played the role very well. The picturesque sceneries made the already beautiful film more beautiful. The blending of the colours and patterns, bringing beauty out of small towns and rivers glorified the story. Dulquer Salmaan as Charlie impressed the entire audience. Even those who don’t understand Malayalam tend to fall for DQ’s excellence and perfection. His evil laughs made people laugh with him. His genuine smile made people smile heartfully. Parvathy Thiruvothu completed the film with her naturally beautiful expressions. Her chase behind her dreams made her strong. She represented the whole commodity of girls and women who wished to live a carefree life. Aparna Gopinath as Kani, in the second half, is beautiful, impresses the viewers and needs a special mention. If you are waiting to watch a feel-good film, here’s Martin Prakkat’s well-written Charlie.
