What is the hypnosis of cinema? In those who see, which is called heart. Although this hypnosis is different from literature or painting. Cinema is bound in time like music, but in reality cinema is such an art in which technology intervenes. This is the reason that with the change in technology, films also become old. For example, films may have been made well fifty years ago but they do not attract us today in the form in which they were at the time of release. Even if there are exceptions. Movies, however, remain a part of our memories.

The previous generation has its own tales of watching cinema. Recently, while watching the film ‘Khandan’ (1965) on television, the mother said that ‘this film was released around my marriage. Your father saw it in Darbhanga and asked me to see it. I saw it in the cinema house of Sakri, a town near the village. At that time there was a ticket of one rupee. Now that father is no more, this film has come like nostalgia in mother’s memories. The question is, how does a filmmaker view his relationship with cinema? Obviously the magic of cinema on a director is different from that of a common viewer.

Pan Nalin’s Gujarati film ‘Chello Show’ (Last Show) has been shortlisted for the Oscars. This film was officially sent from India for ‘Best International Feature Film Category’. ‘Chello Show’ is the story of a nine-year-old boy who later becomes a filmmaker. The film beautifully portrays that child’s hypnotic, irrepressible attraction towards cinema. There is a certainty here.

Prior to this film, ‘Sansarat (2001)’ and ‘Valley of Flowers (2006)’ had earned Pan Nalin a lot of fame in the international film world. Both the films were in great discussion among the audience regarding the unflattering portrayal of sex. These films were made in collaboration with France, Japan and Germany, which appear to be made for Western audiences. On the contrary, in ‘Chello Show’, a town boy is so caught up in the magic of time and cinema that he doesn’t feel like reading and writing. In Gujarat’s Saurashtra region, he runs away from school, takes a train and comes to the nearest town to watch a movie. Here he befriends a projectionist (who was responsible for showing cinema on the screen through projection). By exchanging his ‘lunch box’ he gets to see the film for free. Here he understands the play of light and film.

The metaphor of the train comes up again and again in this film. Here the train journey seems like a cinema journey. Basically, it is an autobiographical film. Pan Nalin is today an internationally renowned film director. He was born in a village in Gujarat. His father used to run a railway canteen and his childhood was spent in the company of trains. The desire to make cinema inspired him to go to Baroda for further studies.

Samay (Bhavin Rabari) tells his father: “I want to study light. Light creates a story. and dialogue to film.” While this film is a reflection of the self of a director, it also beautifully shows the changes in the technology of cinema projection. Along with this, how the world of colors changed in the eyes of a filmmaker after disappearing from the reel, it has also been filmed with artistry in the end. There is very little dialogue here. Cinema also has ‘archival’ (collection) importance in the society, the film ‘Chello Show’ brings it in front of us very well.

The new technology that came with globalization in the last decade of the last century has affected every part of the society. Its impact was especially on cinema. Not only has it influenced the technology of cinema making (the journey from celluloid to digital), but also the way of distribution, cinema viewing. Now there is no need for a closed room of the cinema hall to watch cinema, it can be seen again and again on television, mobile-laptop sitting at home. It can be streamed again and again. The show ‘Chello’ is also being streamed on Netflix today after getting down from the cinema hall. In this film, projectionist Fazal tells Samay that ‘the future belongs to the story tellers’. The future of cinema is also linked to changing technology. The form in which the story will be told is also in the womb of the future, but one thing is clear that the form of storytelling will not remain the same as it was before digital.

In a way, this film is also a tribute to the filmmakers of the past. It is not without reason that in the end we hear the names of filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt, Fellini, Godar, Einstein, Charlie Chaplin. Watching ‘Chello Show’ brings to mind Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning film ‘Cinema Paradiso’ (1988). Despite the similarity in subject matter, the landscape, color and sound of Gujarat make this film typical Indian. The history of Gujarati film is as old as Indian cinema, but it is not discussed in the mainstream media.