The Gujarati film Chhello Show was selected as India’s official entry in the best foreign film category for the 2023 Oscars. While the country is celebrating the success of the film, the film’s director Pan Nalin has made some shocking revelations about what he had to face following the film’s selection.
The Gujarati film Chhello Show came into the limelight overnight after it was nominated as India’s official entry for the Academy Awards this year. Given its popularity in the west, there was widespread speculation that SS Rajamouli’s RRR would be nominated for the Oscars, but the Indian jury surprised everyone with the selection of the small-budget Gujarati film Chhello Show.
While the entire team of the Chhello Show is receiving love and appreciation, the filmmaker made a shocking revelation about how he was threatened with warnings of consequences for not withdrawing from the Oscars. The filmmaker said his moments of joy turned into sorrow with abuses, threats, and warnings.
India’s official selection for the Oscars is done by the Film Federation of India. This year, the FFI jury designated the Chhello Show as India’s entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the prestigious awards. Many were surprised by the choice of the film as the Chhello Show was not considered a frontrunner before the announcement. Its selection has led to many raised eyebrows as several people questioned this selection.
In a recent conversation with Mid-Day, Pan Nalin talked about the online threats and warnings he faced before the film’s release. Sharing his experiences on the same, he said, “The worst cyber attack happened before the release of our film. My team was given warnings like ‘Withdraw your film from the Oscars or face the consequences.’ Instead of celebrating and promoting the film in the US, we were busy fighting this filth for three to four weeks.”
Pan Nalin is not a new name for Hollywood. Robert De Niro, one of the best actors the world has ever seen, made the Chhello Show an opening film at his prestigious Tribeca Film Festival.
The director added that people’s opinions changed after the film was released in theatres in late September and then on Netflix. He said, “When the Indian audience, film critics, and people from the industry finally saw the film, they couldn’t stop themselves from falling in love with it, and in the end, the cinema won.”
The Chhello Show at the Oscars will compete with other leading movies in the category, including Bardo from Mexico, Holy Spider from Denmark, All Quiet on the Western Front from Germany, Saint-Omer from France, Corsage from Austria, Eo from Poland, Return to Seoul from Cambodia, Decision to Leave from South Korea, Claus from Belgium, and Argentina, 1985 from Argentina among others.
The Gujarati film has been attacked in the past
Even before this, during the nomination, some TRS leaders and anti-Gujarat protesters protested against the film, alleging that the film had been nominated as elections are coming up in Gujarat. Everyone thought that south’s superhit RRR would get an entry from India at the Oscars, but due to the selection of this film, many people were left surprised. Many did not like the selection of the Gujarati film Chhello Show, beating super hit films like RRR and The Kashmir Files. Some small and big politicians also strongly opposed the film after its nomination.
Now filmmaker Pan Nalin has revealed that he had to face a lot of hatred after the film’s nomination. While the protesters hurled some abuses, many even threatened him to withdraw the film from the Oscars but he remained firm and refused to do any such thing.
