Cinephiles have long been conditioned to roll their eyes at mawkishly uplifting movies about the magic of cinema. The worst of these tend to come from people who can’t find any other way to make the same point, so it’s understandable if the ultra-earnest title card at the start of Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” inspires you to put your head between your knees and brace for a long two hours. “Gratitude for illuminating the path…” it reads, followed by a short list of names that consists of the Lumière brothers, Eadweard Muybridge, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, and Andrei Tarkovsky.

In the moment, that feels like both way too much and not enough. By the end of Nalin’s sweet but…

Because of the light story emerge. And from the stories the films emerge.

Now that I've seen this film I can clearly say this is absolutely right choice made by the jury to go with this rather then popular mass entertaining film RRR. (Which I also really liked).

Pan Nalin's semi-autobiographical film is exactly what I was and I'm expecting from the Spielberg's The fablemans. Letting us the audience enter into the intimate details about the love for cinema through the filmmaker's lense and fascination for the kind of watching and experiencing cinema he had which either is finished or is almost about to is captivating.

Inside the five mins we see a poor kid selling tea but and getting…

“Leave. And learn.” 

The moment someone realizes a movie is more than just a movie is a memory that seems to be cemented in the minds of anyone who considers themselves a fan of the medium. Mine was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at 17. I think for a lot of people, that moment where all the pieces fall into place about film happens in our teenhood or early adulthood. But the lucky few encounter such an epiphany in their childhoods. Young, full of wonder, and eager to devour this new realization that the world around them can be turned into moving pictures on a screen. 

Last Film Show captures that moment for its young lead, Samay, played by…

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Perhaps, I was too harsh on this piece of gem. When it was selected as the official entry for Oscars from India over RRR, almost the entire nation including me was too negative and harsh on this film. Not because it was not good, no one had watched it that time, because India could have got an Oscar nomination for best int’l film after 20 years if RRR was selected as the chances were sky high. But this! After postponing to watch this for months.  Finally had the time and mood to see this. And my oh my. This is what cinema is really about. About stories and and about art of storytelling. At first even I felt it…

Last Film Show (Chhello Show) - A Love Letter to Cinema, Childhood, and Gujarat, India.

Some films don’t just entertain you, they take you back in time, pull you into memories you didn’t even know were still alive, and leave you with a heart full of nostalgia. Last Film Show is one of those rare, soul-touching films for me. And yes I haven’t watched Cinema Paradiso.

Honestly, I’m feeling so proud, this is a film from my land, my people, my Gujarat and it’s on such a big global stage. An Oscar-nominated film from where I belong? That hits differently. This alone makes my heart swell. To see our stories, our culture, our people on such a grand platform… it’s…