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Samay is so entranced by the magic of cinema that he begins to conceptualise ways to replicate what he sees on screen. There he meets the lively Fazal ( Bhavesh Shrimali), who runs Galaxy’s projection room. The monotony is broken for the nine-year-old only when he plays hooky and visits a movie hall called Galaxy in the vicinity. A pity, because Chhello Show, despite the comparative slimness of its content, is sweet, funny and moving in its own way.Ĭhhello Show is set in Chalala, a non-descript town in Gujarat where our protagonist Samay (Bhavin Rabari) leads a humdrum life, attending school and selling tea from his father’s stall on a railway platform. Unfortunately for him, the story of his childhood bears a strong enough resemblance to the basic premise of Guiseppe Tornatore’s coming-of-age drama – one of the most beautiful ever made – for it to be diminished by the memory of that film. Nalin has said that Chhello Show is considerably autobiographical. Last Film Show that releases in Indian theatres today, just weeks after the announcement that it will be India’s entry in the race for next year’s Best International Feature Film Oscar.
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This though is a precis of writer-director Pan Nalin’s Gujarati film Chhello Show a.k.a.
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A little boy with a passion for cinema befriends the projectionist at a small-town theatre – narrate this theme to cinephiles across the globe in a game of Guess The Movie and chances are, the most common answer will be the Italian classic Cinema Paradiso.
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