Rahul Koli, one of the six child stars of Chhello Show (Gujarati), India’s official entry to the 95th Oscars, breathed his last on 2nd October at a hospital in Ahmedabad. He hailed from Hapa in Gujarat. He was 15 and succumbed to leukaemia for which he had been under treatment for the past four months. The film is slated for release on 14th October which, incidentally will be the date on which his termu (thirteenth day) rituals will be performed.
Rahul played Manu, the son of a railway signal man and a close friend of lead character Samay, in the film which was his first and last. In real life, Rahul was the son of an auto rickshaw driver and was the eldest among three siblings. The family had to sell the rickshaw for Rahul’s treatment but the crew got the rickshaw back for the family when some members got to know of it.