Much has been said since the Gujarati film Chhello Show (The Last Film Show) by Pan Nalin was chosen as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category of the 95th Academy Awards. The Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) and Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has demanded the film’s selection for the Oscars be reversed and alleged that it is a rip-off of the 1988 Oscar-winning film Cinema Paradiso. This is in addition to fans being furious that it was picked over RRR. The director has stated that he is “disappointed by his industry peers’ lack of support”.

I was disheartened. We have done zero lobbying. Many people think whatever is most popular is going to get an Oscar. If they Googled, they would know what the trend is in terms of international films. I knew other fellow filmmakers from other countries, where they were being celebrated and preparing to go for Oscars, and meanwhile, we were dealing with this backlash.

I wondered how it came about. My cinematographer is from Maharashtra, chief assistant director is from Himachal Pradesh, others are from Kerala, Mumbai and Gujarat, etc. Maybe it was misinterpreted because we have a foreign sales agent.

I guess if anyone decides to make a film about their love for cinema, it might look like Cinema Paradiso, but there will be many other things to it. I request people to watch the film before coming to a conclusion.

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Producer of the film, Sidharth Roy Kapur, has reacted to the allegations levelled by FWICE, “I think we should look at the future since we’re representing India now and we’ve been selected by the Film Federation of India (FFI). We’re honoured and privileged to be given the responsibility to represent our country. Film is such a subjective medium, and everyone will have an opinion on it, nothing is black or white. There’s a jury that was put together and they selected us. We will do our best to bring glory to the country, that’s where I’d like to leave it. It is a free country and everyone is entitled to an opinion,” he told The Indian Express.