Last Film Show

Last Film Show, also known as Chhello Show, is a 2021 Indian Gujarati-language coming-of-age drama film directed by Pan Nalin. It stars Bhavin Rabari, Bhavesh Shrimali, Richa Meena, Dipen Raval and Paresh Mehta.[2] The film premiered at the 20th Tribeca Film Festival on 10 June 2021 and was theatrically released in India on 14 October 2022.

 Last Film Show
Official poster
Directed byPan Nalin
Written byPan Nalin
Produced by
Starring
  • Bhavin Rabari
  • Bhavesh Shrimali
  • Richa Meena
  • Dipen Raval
  • Paresh Mehta
CinematographySwapnil S. Sonawane
Edited byShreyas Beltangdy
Pavan Bhat
Music byCyril Morin
Production
companies
  • Chhello Show LLP
  • Monsoon Films
  • Jugaad Motion Pictures
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 10 June 2021 (2021-06-10) (Tribeca)
  • 14 October 2022 (2022-10-14) (India)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageGujarati

This film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[3] and subsequently got Shortlisted in the category.[4]

Plot

Nine-year-old Samay (Bhavin Rabari) from Chalala, a village in Saurashtra, Gujarat, India spends an entire summer watching films, from the projection booth of a rundown movie place, by bribing the projectionist - Fazal (Bhavesh Shrimali). He is absolutely mesmerized by films and filmmaking, to the point that he decides to become a filmmaker, unaware of the heartbreaking times that await him.

Cast
  • Bhavin Rabari as Samay
  • Bhavesh Shrimali as Fazal, Projectionist
  • Richa Meena as Baa, Samay's mother
  • Dipen Raval as Bapuji, Samay's father
  • Paresh Mehta as Cinema manager
  • Vikas Bata as Nano
  • Rahul Koli as Manu
  • Shoban Makwa as Badshah
  • Kishan Parmar as ST
  • Vijay Mer as Tiku
  • Alpesh Tank as Mr. Dave, Teacher
  • Tia Sebastien as Leela Mila
  • Jasmin Joshi as Rathor

Production
Pan Nalin on the shoot of Last Film Show in Rajkot, Gujarat, India in 2019

The film is semi-autobiographical as Nalin was born and brought up in Adtala village in Saurashtra.[5] Six village boys from local communities of the region were cast. The film was shot in villages and railway station in Saurashtra. He also brought old celluloid Hindi films and a technician to run projectors.[2] The cast is mostly made of child actors. Dilip Shankar, Nalin's friend and casting director, assisted Nalin in casting the child actors. The film was shot in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India. The post-production was completed during the pandemic.[6] The film is produced by Dheer Momaya's Jugaad Motion Pictures, Nalin's Monsoon Films and Marc Duale's Stranger88 in co-production with Virginie Lacombe's Virginie Films and Eric Dupont's Incognito films.[2]

The film focuses on hope and innocence. It also highlight ending culture of single-screen cinema and 35mm celluloid films in India.[2]

Release

Ahead of its premiere, the film was acquired by Neue Visionen for Germany, Karma Films for Spain, Shochiku for Japan, Red Cape and Nachson for Israel and Nos Lusomundo for Portugal.[7]

The film premiered at the Spotlight section of the 20th Tribeca Festival on 10 June 2021. It was the first Gujarati film that was selected for this section of the festival.[2][8][9]

More than a year after its premiere at Tribeca, Siddharth Roy Kapur's Roy Kapur Films acquired the rights to present and distribute Last Film Show in its home country of India, in partnership with PVR Pictures, the motion picture distribution arm of PVR Cinemas.[1] The film was theatrically released in Gujarat and on screens across India on 14 October 2022.[10]

Reception

India

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10.[11] Prahlad Srihari of Firstpost called the film "an ode to movie-going, as movie-making".[12] Tanzeem Pardiwalla of Mashable India rated it 5 out of 5, praising its direction, cinematography, theme, story and performances.[13] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a gem that is both rooted and universal".[14] Shwetha Kesari of India Today gave it a 4 out of 5 stars and praised it for its performances and cinematography.[15] Nandini Oza of The Week rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and said that "Human relations have been captured beautifully".[16] Pratikshya Mishra of The Quint and wrote "Chhello Show is a reminder of what happens when film evolves into cinema".[17] Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The film pays tribute to the tribe that cannot imagine cinema being anything but a large screen experience in a dark hall. And no rewind or fast forward button".[18]

Firstpost's Anna M. M. Vetticad rated it 3/5 and compared it to Cinema Paradiso stating that "Chhello Show is slender in comparison, but works all the same as an enchanting, bitter-sweet reminiscence".[19] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote that "it has a familiar problem, and that is the gaze through which some elements are turned exotic or too-pretty."[20] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu praised the film for theme, story, cinematography, direction and performances.[21]

International

Richard Whittaker of The Austin Chronicle said that the film was "as visually intoxicating as it was thematically rich".[22] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a B+, calling it "an ethereal take on the magic of movies".[23]

Accolades

The film was nominated for the Audience Award in the Narrative section at the 20th Tribeca Festival, held from 9 to 20 June 2021.[24] It was nominated for the Tiantan Awards at the 11th Beijing International Film Festival.[25] It won the Audience Award at the World Cinema section of the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival, held from 7 to 17 October 2021.[10] It won the Golden Spike Award for the Best Picture at the 66th Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci), held from 22 to 29 October 2021.[26] It was nominated for the Best Feature Film - Avante-Garde and Genre at the 23rd Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, held from 20 April to 1 May 2022. It won the Luminaries Jury Award - Special Mention at 14th Milwaukee Film Festival, held from 21 April to 5 May 2022.

In 2023, The film received 69th National Film Awards for the category 'Best Gujarati film'.[27][28]

See also

References
  1. Ramachandran, Naman (12 September 2022). "Roy Kapur Films to Distribute Pan Nalin's 'Last Film Show' in India". Variety. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  2. "Pan Nalin's Gujarati film Chhello Show to open Tribeca Film Festival's Spotlight section". Firstpost. 27 April 2021. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. "Gujarati movie Chhello Show is India's entry for 2023 Oscars". The Indian Express. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  4. "2023 OOscars: Shortlists for 95th Academy Awards Unveiled". Hollywood Reporter. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  5. Ramachandran, Naman (22 April 2021). "Pan Nalin's 'The Last Film Show' Marks Return to Big-Screen Experience at Tribeca Festival (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  6. Pandya, Sonal (10 June 2021). "Heart of Chhello Show is the jugaadu spirit, says filmmaker Pan Nalin". Cinestaan. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  7. Ramach, Naman; ran (9 June 2021). "Tribeca Title 'The Last Film Show' Racks up Global Sales, Reveals Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  8. Rathod, Vaishali. "Pan Nalin: The premiere of 'Chhello Show' at the Tribeca is great news for Gujarati and Indian cinema - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  9. Pandya, Sonal (11 June 2021). "Chhello Show trailer: A boy is transformed by the magic of cinema". Cinestaan. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  10. Tartaglione, Nancy (20 September 2022). "Oscars: India Selects 'Last Film Show' For International Feature Race". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  11. "Last Film Show" – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  12. Srihari, Prahlad (14 June 2021). "Tribeca Film Festival 2021: Pan Nalin's Last Film Show is an ode to how we interact with cinema as kids". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  13. Pardiwalla, Tanzeem (15 June 2021). "Tribeca 'Last Film Show' Review: A Visually Stunning Love Letter To Cinema". Mashable India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  14. Chatterjee, Saibal (14 October 2022). "Chhello Show Review: Visually Arresting, Emotionally Engaging Coming-Of-Age Tale". NDTV. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  15. Keshri, Shweta (14 October 2022). "Chhello Show Review: Pan Nalin's ode to cinema is a winner, Oscar or not. But Oscar, please". India Today. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  16. "'Chhello Show' review: An ode to childhood innocence and love for cinema". The Week. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  17. "'Chhello Show' Review: A Glorious Tribute to the Art of Cinema and Human Spirit". The Quint. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  18. "Chhello Show Review: Bitter Sweet Memories". Rediff.com. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  19. Vetticad, Anna M.M. (13 October 2022). "Last Film Show (Chhello Show) movie review: Bitter-sweet though somewhat slim ode to cinema". Firstpost. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  20. Gupta, Shubhra (14 October 2022). "Chhello Show movie review: A steeped-in-nostalgia story about love for cinema". The Indian Express. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  21. Chandar, Bhuvanesh (13 October 2022). "'The Last Film Show' (Chhello Show) movie review: A dreamy, moving tribute to cinema". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  22. Whittaker, Richard (21 April 2022). "Indie Meme Review: Last Film Show". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  23. Ehrlich, David (16 June 2021). "'Last Film Show' Review: An Indian Boy Creates His Own Cinema in a Sweet Ode to the Movies". IndieWire. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  24. Hipes, Patrick (24 June 2021). "Tribeca Festival Winners: 'Catch The Fair One' And 'Blind Ambition' Nab Audience Awards, Joining Juried Nods For 'The Novice', 'Brighton 4th', 'Ascension'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  25. Shackleton, Liz (21 July 2021). "Beijing film festival unveils line-up for 2021 physical edition". Screen Daily. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  26. Foreman, Liza (1 November 2021). "Pan Nalin's 'Last Film Show' Tops Valladolid". Variety. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  27. "69th National Film Awards 2023 - Winners announced". Bru Times News.
  28. "69th National Film Awards 2023 complete winners list: Rocketry, Alia Bhatt, Kriti Sanon, Allu Arjun win big". The Indian Express. 24 August 2023.
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