On September 20, the Film Federation of India picked the Gujarati film Chhello Show aka Last Film Show as India's official entry to the Academy Awards 2023. The Pan Nalin directorial was picked over Vivek Agnihotri's political drama The Kashmir Files and SS Rajamouli's period action epic RRR, two of the strongest contenders in this race.
Now, director Vivek Agnihotri has revealed if he plans to take his hard-hitting political drama, starring Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumaar, Bhasha Sumbli, Chinmay Mandlekar, Prakash Belavadi, and Pallavi Joshi among others, to the Oscars independently.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Vivek said, "Mujhe inn sab cheezon se farak nahi padta (I don't care about such things now). When it comes to the film going to the Oscars independently, it is something which the makers have to decide. Right now, I am doing another film, and I have moved on."
Earlier, the filmmaker congratulated the team of Last Film Show on his Twitter account and wrote, "A big congratulations to the entire team of #LastFilmShow (Chhello Show) for being selected as India’s official entry. Wishing them the best film award at the #Oscars2023. I thank all the well wishers and specially media which was rooting for #TheKashmirFiles.
Talking about India's selection for the prestigious awards, Chhello Show aka Last Film Show, which features Bhavin Rabari, Bhavesh Shrimali, Richa Meena, Dipen Raval, and Paresh Mehta, had its world premiere as the opening film at the Tribeca Film Festival in June last year.
READ | Who is Pan Nalin, director whose film Chhello Show got picked as India's official entry to Oscars
The film is inspired by Nalin's own memories of falling in love with movies as a child in rural Gujarat. The coming-of-age part autobiographical drama will be released in Gujarat and on selected screens across India on October 14. Pan Nalin had earlier made three critically acclaimed feature films namely Samsara, Valley of Flowers, and Angry Indian Goddesses.
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