A bright colorful thread of bohemian spirituality running through the tapestry of the social problems that India is facing, stitched together through sensitive portrayal of human emotions with humor weaving through every inch....And that is CHARLIE for you!
Be it child trafficking, be it the stigmatized profession of sex workers or be it the media bloodbath following any average citizen’s bad luck, this film touches it all through the non-judgmental lens of a gypsy who has his heart in the right place. My favorite part however it the most controversial “women security in India” issue portrayed rather subtly in the movie albeit starting right from the first scene to the last. Needless to say following the cinematic justice, the bohemian protagonist has a female counterpart in Tessa who is labelled “crazy, eccentric etc” . She is nothing but a soul who refuse to be subdued by the shackles of Indian society and so while she is cautious of her safety, she does not allow it to restrict her dreams and dresses. It is systematically drummed into every Indian girl to expect sexual advance everywhere and making her believe that any such event is her “fault” and is mostly due to her “sinful” carnal feelings and her sense of dressing. When this same thing is taught to boys, they end up growing into the men who think in Bangalore girls are very “free” or a sex worker cannot be loved or that women can have fun time but have to marry because “settling down” is a must.
The movie begins with Tessa running away from her “home’ where she is expected to “settle down” by marrying some tom dick and harry. She gets into a dilapidated accommodation as she was facing both lack of time and money. The movie has captured the feminine “safety issues” rather candidly but also has romanticized the whole idea of how every one Tessa meet is extremely forward thinking and don’t raise an eyebrow at her non-conventional dressing. She gets curios and then slowly enamored by the things left behind by the previous resident of the shack. The rest of the story is how she follows his footprint to find this mysterious man who doesn’t possess a phone. The sensitivity portrayed in the subtle understanding of Charlie’s father, and the doctor is par excellence. I liked the way the director has presented a totally out of ordinary story bordering on fantasy through a series of down to earth, everyday incidents and subtle emotions that everyone can relate to. However fantastical and romantic the story could be, it touches a chord of empathy with people of every age, class and gender!!