Chhello Show director Pan Nalin was threatened after film’s selection for Academy Awards: ‘Oscars mein se film nikaal nahi toh…’

Chhello Show director Pan Nalin opened up about the trolling and baseless allegations the team had to face after their film was announced as India's submission for the Oscars.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | December 23, 2022 08:56 AM IST

2 min read

Chhello Show is one of the Best International Feature shortlisted films at the Academy Awards.

Listen to this article

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Chhello Show has made it to the shortlist at the Oscars in the Best International Feature category and while the country is now celebrating the success of director Pan Nalin’s film, this wasn’t the case when it was announced as India’s official submission for the Oscars. In a recent interview, the filmmaker revealed that the team had to face a lot of trolling, and that they had to deal with all the hatred when they should have been celebrating the moment.

Talking about the moment when he learnt about his film’s selection, the director said that the moment soon turned “sad” as they faced “baseless allegations, and trolling.” “The worst was the cyber attack prior to our film’s release. My team was threatened with warnings, ‘Oscars mein se film nikaal, nahi toh achcha nahin hoga’ (Get out of the running or you will face consequences). Instead of celebrating and campaigning in the US, we were busy fighting this [vitriol] for three to four weeks,” he told Mid-day.

At the time, fans of director SS Rajamouli’s RRR were sure that the historical epic would be chosen as India’s official submission, given its popularity in the West. Social media chatter suggested that RRR had a brighter chance of making it to the shortlist, in comparison to the Gujarati film.

Also Read | From Ponniyin Selvan 1 to Vikram: Here’s the list of best Tamil films of 2022

Chhello Show had a token theatrical release followed by an OTT release after the Oscar announcement and was well received by the audience. “When the Indian audience, film critics and industry folks finally watched the movie, they could not stop themselves from falling in love with it. In the end, the power of cinema won,” he said.

Apart from Chhello Show, RRR was shortlisted in the Best Original Song category for “Naatu Naatu”. RRR is also fighting for a spot in other major categories. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi and Rishab Shetty’s Kantara have also submitted their applications for the Academy Awards and will campaign for their films.

From the homepage