Child actor of India’s Oscar entry 'Chhello Show' passes away

Rahul Koli, 15, one of the six young actors in Chhello Show (The Last Film Show), India's official submission to the 95th Academy Awards (Oscars), passed away on October 2. He passed away from leukaemia, for which he had been receiving therapy for the previous four months. On Monday, his family gathered a prayer gathering for him in his hometown of Hapa near Jamnagar. The child actors  father, Ramu Koli, became emotional as he discussed their last conversations.

Rahul Koli initially experienced a low-grade fever that persisted despite numerous treatments.  As per a report, Rahul’s father said the late child actor had repeated bouts of fever before his death, and vomited blood. He said that after they perform Rahul’s last rites, the family will watch Chhello Show together. The film releases on October 14.

His father said, "On Sunday, October 2, he had his breakfast and then after repeated bouts of fever in the following hours, Rahul vomited blood thrice and just like that my child was no more. Our family is devastated. But we will watch his 'last film show' together on the release day on October 14 after we perform his final purification rituals." The autorickshaw driver said that Rahul was the eldest among three siblings. He added, "We are poor, but Rahul's dream meant everything for us. We had to sell our rickshaw for Rahul's treatment, but when the film crew realized they got the rickshaw back for us."

Inspired by Pan Nalin's own memories of falling in love with movies as a child in rural Gujarat, The Last Film Show is set at the cusp of the digital revolution. Set in a remote rural village of Saurashtra, the film follows the story of a nine-year-old boy who begins a lifelong love affair with cinema when he bribes his way into a rundown movie palace and spends a summer watching movies from the projection booth.