22 Sep – After the debate as to whether "RRR" or "The Kashmir Files" will be India's representative film for the 95th Academy Awards, it was revealed that Gujarati film, "Chhello Show" was eventually selected to be the official entry. The news was shared by Film Federation of India (FFI) on 20 September, stating that "Chhello Show" was unanimously chosen over films such as SS Rajamouli's "RRR", Ranbir Kapoor-starrer, "Brahmastra: Part One Shiva", Vivek Agnihotri's "The Kashmir Files", as well as "Rocketry", which marked the directorial debut of R Madhavan. It is noted that there were a total of 13 films of different languages that were deliberated by the jury of 17 members.
Directed by Pan Nalin, the film, also known as "Last Film Show" in English, follows the story of a nine-year-old boy who spends a summer watching movies from a projection booth after bribing his way into a rundown movie theatre. On the other hand, Pan Nalin expressed his elation over the news, saying, "I could have never imagined such a day would come and bring light and celebration of light. 'Chhello Show' has been enjoying love from around the world but there was an ache in my heart that how do I make India discover it? Now I can breathe again and believe in cinema that entertains, inspires and enlightens! Thank you FFI, Thank you." It is noted that the last Indian movie that made it to top five of Oscar's Best International Feature Film was 2001's "Lagaan" starring Aamir Khan.