-Jasmeet Singh
India has chosen Chhello Show, a Gujarati film, as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards.
The visually striking and award-winning Samsara, Valley of Flowers, Angry Indian Goddesses, and Ayurveda: Art of Being are among Pan Nalin’s works. Last Film Show (Chhello Show) is a part-autobiographical drama about the appeal of western Gujarat that honors the cinema of the past. It evokes childhood innocence and the universal wonder of cinema.
The film tells the story of a handful of individuals who struggle to preserve the last few single-screen cinemas in India from closing down or being converted into multiplexes. Bhavin Rabari, Vikas Bata, Richa Meena, Bhavesh Shrimali, Dipen Raval, and Rahul Koli play the leading roles.
Premier of the Movie
Chhello Show (Last Film Show) premiered at Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Film Festival as the opening film and won several awards at various international film festivals, including the Golden Spike at the 66th Valladolid Film Festival in Spain, where it also enjoyed commercial success during its theatrical run.
Pan Nalin, the director of Chhello Show, says, “I never thought that one day, I would witness such a moment of triumph and joy. Chhello Show has been adored all over the world, but I was saddened that India had not discovered it. Now I can rest easy again, believing in cinema as a place for interesting, inspiring, and educating! Thanks FFI, thanks Jury.
We’re thrilled and honoured that our movie, Last Film Show, has been chosen to represent India at the Academy Awards,” Siddharth Roy Kapur, producer of the film, said. Cinema fans around the world have been impacted by a pandemic of cinema disruptions. When we remember the first time we fell in love with cinema, we are reminded that cinema-going has been disrupted. We are proud to represent our country with this picture and with the help of our partners Samuel Goldwyn Films and Orange Studio, we’ll do everything we can to win an Oscar!”
