Thrilled for Bhavin: Pan Nalin on Chhello Show actor’s National Award win

Filmmaker Pan Nalin’s Chhello Show added another feather to its cap by winning the Best Gujarati Film award at the 69^thNational Awards announced on Thursday evening. The film’s young star, Bhavin Rabari, won the Best Child Artist gong. In a chat with us minutes after the win, Pan says, “We were expecting to win the Best Film at the Gujarat State Film Awards, which were announced recently.But we were disappointed. So, I wasn’t hoping to win at the National Awards and hence, wasn’t keeping a tab. I then received a call from Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs & Sports, who congratulated me on the win. That is when I realised that Chhello Show has bagged the Best Gujarati Film award.”
He adds, “Two minutes later, I was even more thrilled when Bhavin won the Best Child Artist award. Coming from a small village, Vasai, and belonging to the Rabari community, Bhavin has won rave reviews for his acting skills wherever Chhello Show has been screened across the world. When I spoke to him and told him that he has won the Best Child Artist award, he didn’t realise the magnitude of the win. Then, when I told him that he would receive his award from the President of India, and that this is like a Rashtra Puraskar, Bhavin was thrilled. He started dancing and jumping up and down. I am so happy for him.”
The filmmaker, who has expressed his disappointment at not making it to the final list of nominations at the 95^th Academy Awards, is saddened by the lack of support from the local government. “The Gujarat government’s subsidy scheme is a great one, but I think it also needs to recognise good cinema and acknowledge it.”