India’s official entry for Oscars 2023 is ‘Chhello Show’
If you are a movie buff, then brace yourself for an exciting news. Do you know the name of India’s ultimate choice for next year’s Oscars? It’s none other than ‘Chhello Show,’ a Gujarati-language film. Recently announced by the Film Federation of India (FFI), the film beat the likes of ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘RRR’ in the race for ‘Best International Feature Film’ for the upcoming Academy Awards.
For those unaware, there were a total of 13 films shortlisted from different Indian languages. For instance, the six from the Hindi category included notable ones such as: ‘Brahmastra,’ ‘Anek,’ ‘Jhund,’ ‘Badhaai Do,’ ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.’ The others were, ‘Iravin Nizhal’ (in Tamil), ‘Ariyippu’ (in Malayalam), ‘RRR’ (in Telegu), ‘Aparajito’ (in Bengali) and the ultimate ‘Chhello Show’ (in Gujarati) among others.
Interestingly, contrary to the popular consensus, the 17-member jury led by Kannada director-actor Mr. TS Nagabharana unanimously chose ‘Chhello Show’ as the final choice. Sources cite that ‘Chhello Show’ was chosen as it represents the country in a uniquely Indian fashion. Another reason why the film was selected was because this time the jury emphasised on the story over popularity, marketing, entertainment value and box-office collection. The Head of the Selection Committee Mr. Nagabharana was even quoted saying “Chhello Show transcends the narrative of the regular Indian reality in a broader sense, while tugging on emotional chords.”
‘Chhello Show’ has been directed by distinguished Gujarati filmmaker named Pan Nalin, who had previously won the prestigious ‘Best First Feature Film Director’ award at the Durban International Film Festival for his debut venture SAMSARA in 2002. It’s a coming-of-age drama set in the Saurashtra region and is about a nine-year-old boy Samay and his passionate love affair with cinema at large. The plot revolves around the young lad and how he bribes a cinema projector technician Fazal in order to pursue his dream of watching back-to-back films through the summer. However, he soon realises his obsession with the art of cinema when the theatre announces its ‘last show.’ Maybe, that’s why, it is titled in English as ‘Last Film Show.’ It focuses on the plight of hundreds of single-screen theatres across India that are now sadly on the verge of extinction.
This brand-new Pan Nalin directorial that is set against the backdrop of cinemas in India and explores the transition from celluloid to digital, will release in theatres nationwide on 14th October. However, it has already had its world premiere at the 20th Tribeca Film Festival in 2021.
Interestingly, the SS Rajamouli directorial ‘RRR’ may still enter the 95th Academy Awards if its US distributor seeks nomination in other categories, such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, Best Supporting Actor/ Actress, Best Original Song among others. But the same can’t be said for the other films yet.
If you are an avid follower of the Oscars, you would know that India’s official entry for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category for 2022 was ‘Koozhangal.’ However, it failed to receive nominations during the award ceremony. In fact, if you look through India’s Oscars history, so far, only three films have been nominated in the category: ‘Mother India’ (1957), ‘Salaam Bombay!’ (1988) and ‘Lagaan’ (2001), but none have won.