Pan Nalin’s Gujarati film ‘Chhello Show’ (The Last Film Show) is India’s official Oscar entry for Best International Feature. The film defeated SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ in the Academy race, and a lot is being said about it ever since, with some accusing it to be a copy of Italian film, ‘Cinema Paradiso’.
Now, in a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Pan Nalin dismissed the claims of the film being a copy of ‘Cinema Paradiso’. He said he was ‘disappointed and disheartened that people were jumping to conclusions’ without watching his film.
He stated that they have done zero lobbying, and have sold the movie in the same way, to a studio in Japan.
‘But for people it has to make commercial sense. Many of the people think whatever is most popular is going to get an Oscar. If they Google, they would know what the trend is going in terms of international feature films. I was a little disappointed. I knew other fellow filmmakers from other countries where they were being celebrated, and prepared to go for Oscars, and meanwhile, we were dealing with happy news and backlash,’ he said.
'It was the sad part about it all. We live in an information age, everything is at fingertips, before such accusations and allegations, one should watch the movie. The film was screened at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Festival, and has won multiple awards internationally… If there was even a shade of copy, do you think any of these people would touch the movie? No way. It’s my personal story showing how I fell in love with cinema while growing up. I guess if any filmmaker decides to make a film about their love for cinema, it might look like Cinema Paradiso on the surface, but there will be many other things as well. I just want to say, please watch the film, and see why so many people are buying it,’ he added.
The Academy Awards are scheduled to be held in March next year.
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