Amazon Prime India released a new Hindi film today called Hello Charlie. It stars Aadar Jain, Jackie Shroff, Shhloka Pandit, Elnaaz Norouzi and Rajpal Yadav in the lead roles. Directed by Pankaj Saraswat, he has written the screenplay with Abhishek Khairkar, who also wrote the film’s dialogue. The makers claim it to be a comedy film. So will it make you laugh? Keep reading the review.
Hello Charlie’s story is set in Mumbai, where Charlie, aka Chirag Rastogi (Aadar Jain), stays with his uncle. He comes to the city to clear the loan his late father had taken. However, he always brings troubles to himself and gets thrown out of every job he takes up. One day, Charlie’s uncle goes to his native place, and he warns his nephew not to touch his new truck. But as usual, Aadar’s character does the opposite.
On the other hand, M. D. Makwana, played by Jackie Shroff, a fraudster who stole crores of money from people, is on the run. The cops are looking for him everywhere. So he plans to escape to Dubai via Diu. However, his photos are all over India. That’s when his close friend and model Mona (Elnaaz Norouzi) suggests to him that he should dress up as a Gorilla, travel inside a truck and reach Diu so that he doesn’t get noticed.
Well, Charlie, who aims to earn good money by taking the Gorilla Toto to due in his uncle’s truck, has no idea who’s under the costume. The rest of the film is Toto and Charlie’s adventure on the road and their challenges in their journey.
The summary of Hello Charlie sounds hilarious, but it failed with its execution. The Amazon Prime Video film was supposed to be a comedy-drama, but it offers us silly and outdated humour. The screenplay was all over the place, with many continuity errors. The editing was abrupt and distracted my attention from the story. The director could’ve explored many possibilities with what happens with Charlie and Toto on their journey. But a bursting tire and diesel issue was not good enough.
Aadar Jain’s Charlie talks annoyingly loud for reasons only known to the actor and the makers. After OK Computer, Jackie Shroff’s acting talent was wasted again in Hello Charlie. The rest of the cast had nothing interesting to offer to the story. If anything, the makers made a joke of their characters, which wasn’t even funny.
The music of Hello Charlie also fails to impress you. In the film, when Charlie keeps going on with his non-stop meaningless talk, Toto loses his patience and cool. That’s how I felt while watching the film. All the emotions Jackie Shroff experienced while wearing that huge Gorilla suit are exactly what watching this film feels like. The outdated humour and shoddy screenplay ruin the experience for you.
Hello Charlie: Is it worth it?
Overall, Hello Charlie will make you say ‘Bye Charlie’ with disappointment. It is a road trip that you do not wish to take.
Hello Charlie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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