Gujarati film Chhello show nominated for Oscar

Film Chello Show (Last Film Show) from India has been nominated in Best International Feature Film category for Oscar 2023. It is a Gujarati film written and directed by Pan Nalin. The whole story of the film is woven on a village child.
The 110-minute Chello Show’s entry shocked all predictors, as there was long speculation that RRR or The Kashmir Files would be nominated for an Oscar, but it didn’t happen. Now, Film Federation of India has made an official announcement on September 20 to send Chhello Show from India for Oscar 2023.
Pan Nalin, director of the movie Chello show, expressed his happiness on social media by tweeting. The director wrote: “It’s like a dream. Thanks to the Film Federation of India and the members of the FFI jury. Thank you for believing in Chhello Show. I can now breathe again and believe in cinema, which entertains and inspires people.
Chhello Show (Last Film Show) is the story of Samay, a young village boy who falls in love with cinema. In Chhalala village of Gujarat, a child reaches the projection room with the help of a cinema projector technician to watch a film and watches several films. Her life changes completely by watching movies. The culture of single-screen cinema was well shown in the film.
Chhello Show is a semi-autobiography by the film’s director and screenwriter, Pan Nalin. In fact, Pan Nalin himself grew up in a village in Saurashtra and he was very much in love with movies. Filming for the film wrapped in March 2020, immediately after which there was a nationwide lockdown. Post-production work for the film was completed during the Corona pandemic.
The film premiered on June 10, 2021 at the 20th Tribeca Film Festival. It was the first Gujarati film to take part in this film festival. The Chhello Show was nominated for the Tiantan Prize at the Beijing International Film Festival. The film won the Golden Spike Award for Best Film at the Wala Dollid Film Festival.
Many big films were ahead in the race for the Oscar nomination, including SS Rajamouli’s RRR, Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files, Fahad Fazil’s Malayankunju and South Korean actor Nani’s Shyam Singha Roy. However, the jury chose ‘Chhello Show’, whose English name is ‘Last Film Show’, for the official Oscar nomination.