777 Charlie: Rakshit Shetty’s film in top 10 purchase list of OTT platform

Ever since Amazon Prime Video introduced the Prime Store for international and Indian movies where both subscribers and non-subscribers could rent out titles, there has been some occasional hue and cry, especially from subscribers who are unhappy about shelling out extra to access these films. Case in point when the streaming giant brought the year’s biggest blockbuster, KGF: Chapter 2, to its platform, but kept it in the store for two weeks. Subscribers were hopping mad at having to pay over and above the subscription charges to access the film and threatened to leave the platform. And yet, for as long as the film was on rental basis only, it was the top trending title across languages on the store.

A repeat of sorts is happening now for Rakshit Shetty’s 777 Charlie. The film, which released in theatres in June, was sold to Colors Kannada and Voot Select in its original Kannada version, while Amazon Prime Video scooped up the digital rights to the other languages. While the Kannada original began streaming on July 29, Amazon released the title only on September 30 and on a pay-per-view condition. 777 Charlie is currently available at a payment of Rs 149 only for the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam versions. Despite this hitch, the film is currently among the top 10 purchase list on the store, for its Hindi, Telugu and Tamil versions.

Produced by lead actor Rakshit for his Paramvah Studios, 777 Charlie was director Kiranraj K’s launchpad. With music by Nobin Paul and cinematography by Aravind Kashyap, the film also starred Sangeetha Sringeri, Raj B Shetty, Gopalkrishna Deshpande, Bobby Simha, among others. The film followed the transformational journey of protagonist Dharma, after he begins to foster a dog called Charlie. It was based on the story of Dharmaraj in Kaliyuga from the Mahabharatha.