The Artist: My quick take on Kumud Mishra’s “Ram Singh Charlie”
In my view, this is the best movie in 2020 which I have seen so far.
Thanks to COVID and the new normal of WFH which gave me enough time and “License to Thrill” myself, I would have created a record of sorts this year watching anything and everything which came my way. After watching many thrillers, sci-fies, espionage sagas, murder mysteries, eerie supernatural stuff, war stories, comedies, dramas, and even sports documentaries, let me confess that I could feel that plots were becoming very predictable. And suddenly this charming Charlie appears on Sony Liv and it brought in a fresh whiff of air with it.
Like the proverbial wine in the woods, this Ram Singh Charlie was ready for release way back in 2016 but somehow it did not find the light of day till August 2020, for our good luck such a classic movie which would have gone unnoticed in 2016 got released on OTT platform in 2020. And similar to a wine in its oak cask this Charlie has developed just the right amount of tanginess and with the age, it has added some sparkle too. No doubt in 2016 the movie had received rave reviews in various festivals around the world.
The movie is all about a circus, which is shut down due to pure economic reasons and all the artists are now on the streets trying their best to survive as they all have to do their act without their safety net in the real circus called “Life”. Ram Singh Charlie, the main character of the story, and is the guy who used to impersonate Charlie Chaplin in the circus act, this is played brilliantly by supremely talented Kumud Mishra. This NSD trained star is a treat to watch if one recalls his bits and pieces performances like Mr. Khatana of Rock star or Coach in MS Dhoni or Mr. Sanjeev Kohli, the Indian Bureaucrat of Airlift, he has always left an indelible mark in all his movies. In this intense drama about life, Kumud Mishra is simply top-notch in his performance. He is the heart and soul of the film, if you want to learn “how to emote with your eyes” then just watch Kumud Mishra. Though Kumud Mishra is a bit on the heavier side as compared to the real Charlie Chaplin, when he slips into Charlie Chaplin’s get up it will be hard to distinguish between the real and reel one. Wow !!
It is a beautifully written script, set in charming Calcutta and is picturized beautifully. The entire cast is simply awesome, Divya Dutta who plays Charlie’s wife matches him with her wonderful performance, her silence and lively gaze does the talking. If you are someone of my generation who had loved Nukkad or Buniyaad, then you will feel at home watching this "Charlie", the movie is about similar sensibilities of the undying spirit of the human mind and its dreams.
Apart from the performances, I would love to give credit to its director Nitin Kakkar for this masterpiece. He has twice used a theater technique of “soliloquy” to its perfection, once when the unemployed Charlie stumbles upon canisters of white and black paint and he then slowly goes on to smear his face with it tries to reminisce his grand old circus days, this entire act is without any spoken word yet it speaks aloud. The second one is when a combo of Melpomene and Thalia mask is being enacted by Ram Singh in his usual avatar and in Charlie Chaplin guise, the ongoing conflict between the two is beautifully captured. Take a bow Nitin Kakkar for visualizing and Kumud Bhai for emoting it.
Looks like Bollywood has hit its hattrick with the circus, with “Mera Naam joker” it gave us the Legendary showman Raj Kapoor, the Doordarshan’s “Circus” directed by Aziz Mirza and Kundan shah gave us or Badshah SRK, now it looks like Ram Singh Charlie will catapult Kumud Mishra to a big league of actors.
It’s a must-watch as per my verdict, this red-nosed clown may make you laugh if not smile sometimes, but definitely will make you cry.
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