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The Film Federation of India has chosen Pan Nalin’s semi-autobiographical Gujarati drama  Chhello Show ( Last Film Show) as India’s official entry for the 95 th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film Category.

About Chhello Show film:

• A reminder of childhood innocence, the coming-of-age story of a young boy living in a village in Saurashtra celebrates the magic of the movies.
• Starring Bhavin Rabari, Vikas Bata, Richa Meena, Bhavesh Shrimali, Dipen Raval, and Rahul Koli, the story is set against the backdrop of cinemas in India witnessing a massive transition from celluloid to digital, where hundreds of single-screen cinemas stand dilapidated or have disappeared altogether.
• Chhello Show had its world premiere as the opening film at the Tribeca Film Festival and has won multiple awards across various international film festivals, including the Golden Spike at the 66th Valladolid Film Festival in Spain, where it also enjoyed commercial success during its theatrical run
• The film has beaten stiff competition from S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR, Vivek Agnihotri’s  The Kashmir Files, Sajimon Prabhakar’s  Malayankunju, and Rahul Sankrityan’s  Shyam Singha Roy.
• This is the second time after The Good Road in 2013 that a Gujarati film has made the cut for the prestigious awards.
• Last year, the 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 Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Lagaan in 2001.