Pan Nalin on 'Chhello Show' controversy: If there was any issue, FFI wouldn't have allowed submission

India selected the Gujarati film 'Chhello Show' aka 'The Last Film Show' as it's official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards. Since then, the film has been surrounded by controversies. The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has raised strong objections over its selection, alleging that it is not an Indian film and a copy of an iconic 1988 Italian French film 'Cinema Paradiso'.

WION recentlycaught up with the filmmaker Pan Nalin, who addressed all the concerns raised by FWICE.

"All of our cast is pure Kathiawadi. My own company Monsoon film is more than 25 years old. Just because I don't make films with stars doesn't mean I don't exist. Siddharth Roy Kapur who is associated with us runs Roy Kapur Films, which is Indian. It's truly an Indian film. It might be a Gujarati film but the cast, crew, and creative control as per the Academy rules totally rest with the Indian people. And Film Federation of India (FFI) is a strict body. If there was any issue they wouldn't have even allowed us to submit it. There are strict rules and guidelines which are on the website. So, these are completely baseless allegations.”

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‘Chhello Show’ is partly an autobiographical drama that follows 9-year-old boy Samay, whose life changes forever after watching his first film. Nalin told us this is exactly what happened to him as a child.

"This film is totally inspired by my childhood. Growing up in Kathiawad countryside, when I saw the first movie I was mesmerised. Half the film I saw on the screen and half the film on the projection. So that obsession made me bunk school and made me do all mischievous stuff. I was obsessed. I even shot in the same cinema hall where I saw my first film. It was shut down for 25 years and was used to store sugarcane. We revamped the cinema hall and shot there.”

Bhavin Rabari who plays Samay in the film belongs to a small village in Gir. Pan and his team did more than 3000 auditions before they found Bhavin. With no prior acting experience, the young actor revealed to WION how he bagged the Pan Nalin film.

"I didn't know about the audition. I usually used to make reels on Tik Tok. When I went for the audition, I was asked a lot of questions and was asked to give an audio test. Some people knew how to sing, some knew how to dance, but I knew how to do comedy well. On shoot, I used to pester everyone from light man to Nalin sir to cameraman.... everyone. When they were not around or would go for a lunch break, I and my friends would pretend to be Nalin sir, cinematographer, light man, and we would imitate them and would say roll camera, rolling and action."

'Chhello Show' which will be released in theatres in India on October 14 has already won critical acclaim around the world. It was chosen over films like SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' and Vivek Agnihotri's 'The Kashmir Files ' to become the country's official contender in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2023 Oscars.