'Chello Show' for Oscars: FFI faces backlash, says it is 'not sure' if it's an Indian film

The Film Federation of India faced a lot of backlash after it snubbed SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' and selected Pan Nalin's Gujarati film 'Chhello Show' as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards.

The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) claimed that 'Chhello Show' is not even an Indian film. It believes that the movie could be a copy of the Oscar-winning Italian film 'Cinema Paradiso' (1998).

Now, TP Aggarwal, the president of Film Federation of India (FFI), has spoken in favour of jury’s decision to select 'Chhello Show' as India's official entry to the Oscars instead of other audience favorites like 'RRR' and 'The Kashmir Files'.

However, he could not say much on the FWIC claims that 'Chhello Show' is not an Indian film and it has primarily been produced by foreign studios.

When asked how can the movie be Indian if it is produced by an International Studio, TP Aggarwal told Indian Express, ‘I cannot say anything about that, I am not sure about it.’

The FFI president responded to the claims saying it is a copy of 'Cinema Paradiso'. He told, ‘No, I had asked the jury members, they’ve seen the picture so many times and they said no (it is not a copy). Not a single scene is similar in the film. It can be inspired by that, but it is not a copy.’

'Chello Show' is about a 9-year-old Indian boy in Gujarat who falls in love with cinema. The film is said to be semi-autobiographical as it is based in Gujarat’s Saurashtra and Pan Nalin was also born and brought up there.

Also read: Shanaya Kapoor on her Bollywood debut with 'Bedhadak': 'I earned this opportunity'