Gujarati film ‘Chhello Show’ becomes India’s official entry for Oscars 2023

Gujarati film “Chhello Show”, a coming-of-age drama about a young boy’s love affair with cinema in a village in Saurashtra, is India’s official entry for the 95th Academy Awards or Oscar awards, the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced. Titled “Last Film Show” in English, the Pan Nalin directorial will release in theatres countrywide on October 14. The 95th Academy Awards are scheduled to take place on March 12, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Bank Maha Pack includes Live Batches, Test Series, Video Lectures & eBooks

How did “Chhello Show” select for Oscar awards?

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”.

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

About the “Chhello Show or Last Film 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.
• The story is inspired by Nalin’s own memories of falling in love with movies as a child in rural Gujarat. 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.

History of Indian films in Academy Awards:

• Last year, Tamil drama “Koozhangal” (“Pebbles”), directed by filmmaker Vinothraj PS, was India’s official entry at the Oscars but didn’t make the shortlist.
• The last Indian film that made it to the final five was the 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.

Find More Awards News Here