Gujarati Film 'Chhello Show' Beats 'RRR' & 'Kashmir Files', Becomes India’s Official Entry For Oscars 2023

Neither 'RRR' nor 'The Kashmir Files', Gujarati coming-of-age drama "Chhello Show" is India's official entry for the 95th Academy Awards, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced Tuesday.

The movie, titled "Last Film Show" in English, directed by Pan Nalin, will be released nationwide on October 14.

"'Chhello Show' is India's official entry for the Oscars 2023," FFI Secretary General Supran Sen told PTI.

Chhello Show

The film, which will represent the country in the best international feature film category at the Oscars, is produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur's banner Roy Kapur Films, Jugaad Motion Pictures, Monsoon Films, Chhello Show LLP, and Marc Duale.

Nalin's recollections of falling in love with cinema as a young child in rural Gujarat inspired the story.

Set in a remote rural village of Saurashtra, the film follows the story of a nine-year-old boy who begins a lifelong love affair with cinema when he bribes his way into a rundown movie palace and spends a summer watching movies from the projection booth.

"Chhello Show," which features Bhavin Rabari, Bhavesh Shrimali, Richa Meena, Dipen Raval, and Paresh Mehta, had its world premiere as the opening film at the Tribeca Film Festival in June last year.

It won multiple awards during its festival run, including the Golden Spike at the 66th Valladolid Film Festival in Spain, where it also enjoyed commercial success during its theatrical run.

Talking about the movie and its nomination to the Academy Awards, director Pan Nalin says,?

“I could have never imagined such a day would come and bring light and celebration of light. ‘Chhello Show’ has been enjoying love from around the world but there was an ache in my heart how do I make India discover it? Now I can breathe again and believe in cinema that entertains, inspires and enlightens! Thank you FFI, Thank you, Jury.”

Last year, the Tamil drama "Koozhangal" ("Pebbles"), directed by filmmaker Vinothraj PS, was India's official entry at the Oscars but didn't make the shortlist.

Which films did 'Chhello Show' compete with??

LAST FILM SHOW (Chhello Show)

According to reports, Chhello Show was chosen by a jury of 17 diverse film industry voices.

According to FFI president TP Aggarwal, "Chhello Show" was unanimously chosen over films such as SS Rajamouli's "RRR," Ranbir Kapoor-led "Brahmastra: Part One Shiva," Vivek Agnihotri's "The Kashmir Files" and R Madhavan's directorial debut "Rocketry."

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"The 17-member jury unanimously chose 'Chhello Show.' There were a total of 13 films in different languages, including six in Hindi -- 'Brahmastra,' 'The Kashmir Files,' 'Anek,' 'Jhund", "Badhaai Do' and 'Rocketry' -- and one each in Tamil ('Irvin Nizhal'), Telugu ('RRR'), Bengali ('Aparajito') and Gujarati ('Chhello Show') as well as few others," Aggarwal told PTI.

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The jury included filmmaker TS Nagabharana (chairman), filmmaker Sangeeth Sivan, music composer Jatin Pandit, costume designer Nikhat Mariyam Neerushaa, producer Anjan Bose, sound recordist Mandar Kamalapurkar, editor Prateek Gupta among others.

The last Indian film to the final five was Aamir Khan-led "Lagaan" in 2001.

"Mother India" (1958) and "Salaam Bombay" (1989) are the other two Indian movies to have made it to the top five.

The 95th Academy Awards are scheduled to occur in Los Angeles on March 12, 2023.

(With inputs from PTI)?

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