Rakshit Shetty: I want 777 Charlie’s Hindi version to open with 300-350 screens; once those are full, we will bump it up

On his birthday today, actor-filmmaker Rakshit Shetty met with the media in Bengaluru to discuss his release this week, 777 Charlie, which will hit theatres across the country in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The response to the film in north India, where the team had a series of premiere shows in the run-up to the film’s theatrical release on June 10, has been phenomenal. So much so that the distributors in the north India belt are looking at releasing it with at least 500 shows.

“The distributors are planning for 350-500 screens. But I insisted that we open with 300-350 screens only, irrespective of the craze surrounding the film. Once those 300-350 screens run at full capacity, we can increase the number of screens over the weekend, if required. However, by Friday, if there is an increased demand for the film, they will open with more than 350 screens in the north India belt,” said Rakshit.

The Tamil and Telugu versions will start with about 100-125 screens each, which will be increased based on the demand, he added. The Malayalam version will get 100 screens to start with, said Rakshit. The actor, who has also produced the film under his Paramvah Studios banner, said that the distributors would give audiences language options in each region. “In Mumbai’s Malad, for instance, there is a sizeable Bunt population, so we may push a few Kannada shows of the film. Wherever there is a Kannada belt, they will get the Kannada version,” said Rakshit.

Directed by debutant Kiranraj K, 777 Charlie has Rakshit in the lead, along with Sangeetha Sringeri, Gopalkrishna Deshpande, Raj B Shetty, Danish Sait and Bobby Simha. The film has music by Nobin Paul. The narrative of the film is apparently inspired by the Mahabharata tale Dharmaraja and Kaliyuga and follows the protagonist, Dharma, a loner with a routine boring existence, whose life turns around when he fosters a dog called Charlie. The film is about the transformative journey that Dharma has with Charlie.