Chhello Show : India’s Oscar entry is a heartfelt tribute to single-screen cinema

India’s 2023 Oscar entry Chhello Show (Last Film Show) will hit theatres on October 14. Before its theatrical release, the makers released the trailer of the movie. The film stars Bhavin Rabari, Vikas Bata, Richa Meena, Bhavesh Shrimali, Dipen Raval and Rahul Koli.

The two-minute-long trailer starts with a family of four going to town to watch a film. We then see shots of single-screen theatres being houseful and a young boy Samay befriending a worker at the Galaxy theatre so that he can watch movies and learn more about film projection.

He along with his friends in the village also construct a DIY film projection apparatus. But soon things change and we are taken to the times when single-screen cinemas were forced to run their ‘last film show’ because of the transition from celluloid to digital.

Chhello Show (Last Film Show) is helmed by Pan Nalin. Talking about the film being India’s entry for 2023 Oscars, Nalin had said in a statement, ”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 that 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.”

Interestingly, Chhello Show was in contention to be India’s official Oscar entry last year, too, but then, FFI picked P S Vinothraj’s Tamil film Koozhangal (Pebbles).

Chhello Show, produced by Roy Kapur Films, Jugaad Motion Pictures, Monsoon Films and Chhello Show LLP, had its world premiere as the opening film at Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Film Festival. It won the Golden Spike at the 66th Valladolid Film Festival in Spain.