The grand success celebration of Malayalam movie "Charlie" was held at IMA House in Kochi on Wednesday, April 20. The star-studded event was graced by megastar Mammootty and the full cast and crew of the blockbuster movie.
The four-hour function, hosted by actor Jayaraj Warrier, began with the a tribute performance to the late members of the film fraternity, including actress Kalpana, who was last seen in the hit movie. Jayaraj's daughter Indulekha Warrier lent her voice to the tribute song. Unni R, the scriptwriter of the flick, welcomed the audience to the grand celebration of the success of the Dulquer Salmaan-starrer.
Later, actress Aparna Gopinath shared her experience on working with the entire crew of "Charlie," who helped her to be a part of the film, even after she met with an accident. She later handed over a souvenir to the production team and the location manager. The "jar memento" has been designed by Jayashree Lakshmi Narayanan, who won the Kerala State Award for Best Art Director for the movie.
Director-turned-actor Renji Panicker, who did a cameo appearance in "Charlie" also graced the event and thanked director Martin for making him a part of the film. He later gave the "Charlie" momento to the light technicians and drivers of the movie.
Veteran actress KPAC Lalitha also graced the event. "I had initially refused the movie, as my son Siddharth had met with an accident. But then, I was compelled to play as Tessa's grandmother saying it will be just two-day shoot. I wore a special wig for the first time and had to learn how to use the electric wheel-chair. However, I had a great time with the team of "Charlie" and I totally forgot about my son's condition. I always had a wish to act with Mammoos' (Mammootty) son, but I didn't get an opportunity to share the screen-space with him. Its only after coming here I could sit next to him and am so happy," Lalitha said and later presented the mementos to make-up assistants, costume assistants and script typist.
Soubin Shahir, who played the role of a thief in "Charlie," handed over the mementos to assistant directors, art directors, title animators, production executives, financial controllers, colour grading team and still photographers. "I was also once a technician like these people, now I got a chance to give awards to them. I feel proud," Soubin said during the event.
Actor Joju George, who was one of the producers of the film, thanked Lal Jose for giving him a break in acting with super-hit movie "Pullipulikalum Aatinkuttiyum." He later gave away the token of appreciation to the music partner (Muzik247), the satellite right holder, outside Kerala distributors, title designer, Vivek Ranjit (subtitles), assistant editors, cameramen and directors of the film.
Music composer Gopi Sunder awarded the souvenirs to lyrisict Santhosh Varma, singers Divya S Menon, Rajalakshmi and choreographer Brindha. Director Lal Jose was also a special guest of the event and handed over the jar mementos to Gopi Sunder, the make-up man, sound designer, costume designer Sameera Saneesh and editor Shameer Mohammed.
The audience went gaga after Gopi Sunder and Dulquer rocked the stage with the popular song "Chundari Penne." The event also saw the performances of Divya S Menon and Rajalakshmi, who have sung the melodies "Puthumazhayay" and "Sneham Nee," respectively for "Charlie."
Nassar, who made a cameo appearance as a magician in "Charlie" was the main attraction of the event, who said how comfortable he is working with the Malayalam industry. "Even though I didn't understand much about my role when it was narrated to me, it was my third son, who compelled me to act in it saying 'it's Dulquer Salmaan movie.'"
Nassar, who also requested extra time to speak, said that the Malayalam movie "Kodiyettam" had amazed him with the performance of Bharath Gopi. "I would always say Bharathan is the best director I have worked with, he is a master. And I would say 'Ghazal' is the best movie I have acted in Malayalam. I am really happy to visit Kerala for its good tea and fish," Nassar said. The veteran actor also thanked Mammootty saying: "Sir, you made the day great."
He later gave away the special awards to production controller Alex C Kurian and the State Award winners MR Rajakrishnan (sound mixing), Jayashree (art director), Jomon T John (cinematographer), Unni R (story), Shebin Becker, Joju George (producers), Martin Prakkat (director), Parvathy and Dulquer.
Parvathy also spoke about her best moments with the team of "Charlie" and thanked the online media for supporting the movie. "Normally when I go for award functions, I prepare on what to say, but here I am back to my own family and I don't get enough words to express my happiness," the actress said.
Following this, Dulquer presented the mementos to Nassar, Neeraj Madhav, Radhakrishnan, Soubin Shahir, Renji Panicker and all other actors who played cameos in the blockbuster movie, which has completed 100 days of theatrical run in Kerala. "I feels like am back home. I grew up seeing many mementos and awards, which my father recieved for his best performances. Now, I feel proud to add more such souvenirs to that," Dulquer said and added that he is still scared of handling big-budget movies.
