Rahul Koli, the 10-year-old actor in Pan Nalin-helmed Gujarati film Chhello Show (The Last Film Show), passed away today after a four-month-long losing battle with leukemia.
Pan Nalin shared a photo of Rahul Koli on his Instagram with the caption, "You will always be our Manu of Chhello Show. Rest in light."
The 10 year-old boy had made his debut in Chhello Show, which is India’s official entry for 2023 Academy Awards. Rahul’s death has come as a significant blow to the celebrations surrounding the film’s entry to the prestigious award ceremony.
Chhello Show is set against the backdrop of Indian cinema’s transition from celluloid to digital. The coming-of-age drama takes place in the remote village of Saurashtra, where nine-year-old Samay falls in love with cinema and decides to study ‘light’ as a means of studying cinema.
The film is inspired by Pan Nalin’s love for cinema sincer he was just a boy in rural Gujarat. Chhello Show had its world premiere at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival and is now set for a theatrical release across India on October 14.
