777 Charlie, the upcoming film starring Rakshit Shetty in the lead role, will release in theatres worldwide on December 31, in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, the actor announced on Thursday.
A Labrador also plays a pivotal role in the film.
The makers recently released the film’s first video song titled the Torture Song composed by Nobin Paul. Singers Vijay Prakash, Jassie Gift, Gana Balachandar, Ram Miriyala and Swaroop Khan sang the songs in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi respectively.
Produced by Rakshit Shetty and GS Gupta under the banner of Paramvah Studios, 777 Charlie has been written and directed by debutant Kiranraj K. The film also features Danish Sait, Sangeetha Sringeri, Raj B Shetty and Bobby Simha in pivotal roles.
The film’s makers in a statement said, “The film 777 Charlie revolves around the dynamic between the protagonist and a dog. The protagonist is stuck in a rut due to his negative and lonely lifestyle and spends each day in loneliness. A pup named Charlie who is naughty and energetic which is a complete contrast with the protagonists’ character enters his life and gives him a new perspective towards it.”
Earlier, in a conversation with Silverscreen India, the film’s director Kiranraj said that 777 Charlie will be a travel adventure film. Expanding on the film’s story, the director said, “Rakshit plays the role of Dharma, an introverted man who has no social life. When Dharma meets Charlie (the dog), they go on an expedition from Karnataka to Kashmir and the journey serves a great purpose in their lives.”
The film was shot by cinematographer Arvind S Kashyap in about 170 days over the span of three years between 2018 and 2020. The film was shot in Mysore, Goa, Kodaikanal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Kashmir.
Kiranraj noted that he spent four-and-a-half years on this film. “A year and a half were dedicated to research on dog behaviour and their relationship with humans. It then took two-and-a-half years of training workshops to prepare for the shoot,” he said. He added that they conducted individual and combined workshops for Rakshit and the dogs which feature in the film.
A couple of dogs play the role of Charlie — one, a puppy and the other, a grown dog. According to the director, they provided the training for the puppy first and shot Charlie’s younger portions. Later, they held another training session for a grown-up dog for the older Charlie’s sequences,” the director added.
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While they used VFX for a few scenes and transitions, Kiranraj said that there was no need for graphics in the other scenes.
Kiranraj said that when actor Rakshit came on board, he suggested that they work on the script keeping the pan-Indian audience in mind. “He understood that the dog-human relationship is a universal concept. So we reworked the script to ensure it could connect with people across the country. From costumes to locations, we have made it neutral,” the director said.
The team behind 777 Charlie has also shot a ‘making video’ of the film and plans to release it as a documentary. Kiranraj noted that the main motive behind this documentary is for it to serve as a reference for filmmakers who aspire to make films featuring dogs. He added that the three-hour-long documentary will premiere on a digital platform after the film’s release.