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In focus
It’s hard to forget the thief named D’Souza in the Dulquer Salmaan movie Charlie. In fact, the introduction of Charlie and the first half of the movie are propelled through this innocent thief character, played by Soubin Shahir. Kallan D’Souza, a rare spinoff in Malayalam cinema raised the curiosity of viewers as the movie is based on the character in Charlie. However, the movie, directed by Jithu K Jayan and written by Sajeer Baba, does not delve into the past of D’Souza nor does it investigate how he became a thief. Instead, the movie revolves around a tussle between a bad cop and an innocent thief. It also focuses on the thief’s relation with the bad cop’s wife. Soubin plays the titular role of D’Souza who is a good at heart small-time thief, while Dileesh Pothan plays a cunning, cold-hearted police officer named Manoj and Surabhi Lakshmi plays the role of Manoj’s wife Asha.
D’Souza and Asha soon develop a bond between them which is something that’s not explored much in Malayalam cinema. Asha develops feelings for D’Souza as he gives her the care and attention which she did not get from Manoj. Asha insists that D’Souza call her name instead of ‘Chechi’ and their relation is not portrayed as romantic by the director. D’Souza, who is shown as a person who doesn’t have any relations other than a friend, finds love in Asha and her child. From Asha’s perspective, D’Souza becomes more of an angel who comes to her rescue from a heartless Manoj.
Other than this relation between a thief and a cop’s wife, the movie doesn’t have any engaging factors. A Muslim character, whose black money got seized, is behind Manoj to regain his lost money. This sub plot is used to fit into the climax of the movie. There are no humour elements, memorable moments or engaging factors in the movie other than the curiosity to know whether Asha and her child get a relief from the hands of Manoj.
Soubin Shahir has done justice to the character of an innocent and lovable thief. However, it should be noted that there weren’t many performance oriented scenes for Soubin, considering he is the protagonist. Surabhi portrays the role of a wife who is constantly harassed by her husband with conviction. The National Award-winning actress has managed emotional scenes well, especially in instances where Asha has to control her emotional balance in front of her child even after getting beaten by Manoj several times. Dileesh’s character Manoj can attract the hate of viewers which is an achievement as an actor. He portrays the role of a cold-hearted cop who is equally hateful towards his wife with ease. Veteran actor Vettukili Prakash as Asha’s father comes up with a memorable performance even in his short screen time in the movie. The comedy track by Hareesh Kanaran, who plays D’Souza’s friend, doesn’t work in the movie.
Some of the songs composed by Prashanth Karmma and Leo Tom are different and interesting, especially the title track. Arun Chalil’s cinematography goes well with the narrative flow of the movie.
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