Filmmaker Nalin Kumar Pandya aka Pan Nalin, who is best known for directing masterpieces such as ‘Samsara’, ‘Valley of Flowers’, and ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’, is elated as his latest celluloid ‘Last Film Show’ (Chhello Show) has been selected as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. ‘Chhello Show’ is a coming-of-age drama, which revolves around a 9-year-old boy who resides in a remote village in India and his love affair with cinema. The film shows how the little boy spends a summer watching films from the projection booth.
It stars Bhavin Rabari, Richa Meena, Bhavesh Shrimali, Dipen Raval, Rahul Koli, and Vikas Bata. In an exclusive interaction with The Free Press Journal, Pan Nalin shares the inspiration behind ‘Chhello Show’, its entry to the Oscars, and more. According to Nalin, the film is inspired by his own childhood, growing up in a remote Kathiawad village.
He reminisces, “My life turned upside down when I saw my first movie at age of about eight or nine. Many years later, around 2010-11 I discovered that my childhood mentor who was a projectionist at a cinema hall in Amreli was jobless as cinema halls across India were going digital, and many single screens were shutting down. I realised that 2022 was the right time to return to innocence and organic stories.
” ‘Chhello Show’s protagonist is a child artiste, and although Bhavin Rabari pulled off the role with ease, Nalin maintains that getting performance out of a nine to ten-year-old non-actor kid is the most challenging task. “There were a number of retreats designed with casting director and coach Dilip Shankar titled ‘How Not To Act Workshop’ where we strived to preserve the natural born quality of Bhavin and other kids who are part of Lala Gang from Chalala. From there on my vision was simple and playful, rooted in the idea of what dreams are made up of.
That as a kid how important it is to dream big. They should dream so big that no one can steal their dreams. When you have nothing, nothing should stop you,” he explains.
The Academy invited Pan Nalin to join as a member of their prestigious Director’s Branch, Class of 2022. Speaking about his film being selected for the Oscars, Nalin asserts that he doesn’t make movies for accolades, but for them to be loved by people. To him, awards and film festivals are just milestones in a journey as his films travel to their destination which is the audience.
It’s been over two decades since an Indian film was nominated in the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards. Will ‘Chhello Show’ make the cut? Nalin answers, “I am always positive and hopeful because we have made the film with passion and love but also with a tremendous amount of talent and honesty. Oscar or no Oscar, if you call upon Google god, you will see that spectators across the world are already falling in love with it.
” 2022 witnessed a massive downfall for Bollywood. Nalin states that the reason behind this could be that people are perhaps getting tired of “packaged products” and “manufactured entertainment. ” “We sometimes forget that the audience is always smarter than films and filmmakers.
The popularity of Chhello Show and its selection as India’s Entry to the Oscars clearly indicates that people want honest and authentic entertainment. They want stories to speak to them,” he concludes. Chhello Show is produced by Roy Kapur Films, Jugaad Motion Pictures, Monsoon Films, and Chhello Show LLP.
It will be released across India on October 14, 2022. Watch: Trailer of India’s official entry to Oscars ‘Chhello Show’ out now.
From: freepressjournal
URL: https://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/bollywood/director-pan-nalin-on-his-film-chhello-show-i-dont-make-movies-for-an-entry-to-the-oscars
