My view on Nepali Cinema

View on Contemporary Nepali Cinema by Prakash Sayami

Nepali Contemporary Cinema : Its Influences and Strengths

By Prakash Sayami

When Nepali cinema emerged as an art form, it had to contend with two challenges, language and technicality. And both were influenced by Indian trends of filmmaking. Mehboob Khan’s film, ‘Mother India’ was a significant influence on Nepal's first film ‘Aama’ [1965]. Most of the actors in this film were Indian rather than Nepalese and most of the technical work like editing, recording and mixing were implemented in India. It was only after 18 years, that Nepalese directors and producers established an organisation called Royal Nepal Film Corporation [RNFC] and began creating their own cinema. The film, 'Maan Ko Baadh’ was made soon after by the RNFC within Nepal, employing its own pre and post-production technical facilities. Although not well received, RNFC continued making films like ‘Kumari’, ‘Sindoor’ and ‘Jivan-Rekha’ creating a much-required space for nurturing filmmaking in Nepal.

Beginning my career in cinema as an assistant director in 1986, I embarked as an independent filmmaker post 1993 with my first film ‘Prithivi’ which, released in 1994. was a commercial success. My second film ‘Seemana’ eluding to the Maoist movement, was released in1996, and again, was also commercially successful. Thereafter, I made films that were received with critical acclaim like ‘Avatar’ or was a complete

commercial disaster, like ‘Rani Khola’. And then I went on to making a Maithili film like ‘Hansa Chalai Pardes’ in 1995. The magic of cinema had sunk under my skin and while not making films, I would keenly follow the trends in filmmaking, soaking in the tentative yet vibrant energy of what was emerging as Nepali Cinema.

While the late 80's found RNFC very slow in making movies, other ventures like ‘Basudev’, ‘Kusume Rumal’ and ‘Samjana’ brought a huge change in the Nepalese movie market. ‘Basudev’ was based on the award-winning Nepali novel ‘Kattel sir ko chotpatak’ by Dr. Dhruva Chandra Gautam and ‘Kusume Rumal’ and ‘Samjhana’ were commercially successful, attracting new directors and producers in the market. One learnt the importance of strong narratives and precision of character-evolution through these films.

After Nepal became a SAARC member, several films were made in collaboration with with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. These films however, they did not take off commercially and in the early 90s new filmmakers emerged, meeting challenges of creating new plots with a wider creative vision, from which Ugyen Chopel's ‘Saino’, Tulsi Ghimire's Lahure, Prakash Thapa's Santaan could be considered as significant creations.

In ‘Saino’, for instance, songs, music, location and casting were unique; the story, influenced by Freudian psychology, gave a new dimension to the female lead, rarely projected in Nepali society. This was the first Nepali film where Freud's interpretive psychology was employed as a narrative tool. ‘Lahure’ was about a Nepali man travelling overseas and to become a Gurkha, a plot that reflected the reality and struggle of the migrant Nepali. ‘Santaan’, directed by Nepal’s senior-most filmmaker Prakash Thapa, was a run-of-the-mill subject but since the treatment was new, it was a runaway success in the market.

By the end of the late 90s, a new cluster of filmmakers introduced more contemporary plots and concepts. Of these, Rabi Baral, Kishor Rana, Ujjwal Ghimire, Tshering Ritar Sherpa and Nabin Subba were prominent, addressing issues on youth, socio-political or as musicals. Tshering Ritar’s film on superstition and the serious issue of ‘witch’ killing was internationally recognised. Subash Gajurel made a film based on the novel ‘Basai’, Gyanendra Deuja's ‘Moona Madan’ [adaption of poet Laxmi Prasad’s novel ‘Devkota’] Yadav Kharel's ‘Adi kabi Bhanu bhakta’s. However, The these novel-based films were unable to do justice to the novels due to budget constraints and lack of research on the popularity of the subject.

Post 2000, a promising effort made by producers influenced the viewing preference of the audience. The new shift in its approach for smaller productions with more compact cameras like the Red Eye encouraged young filmmakers to work efficiently on science fiction and war films that drew a young audience to the theatres in droves.

Tulasi Ghimirey's 2001 film ‘Darpan Chhaya’ however, deviated from the new trend to create a time-tested narrative of triangular love. Well cast, with a soothing music score, Ghimire’s deft experience as a director is reflected in its mellow treatment, choice of exquisite locations in Darjeeling, and a mature handling of the narrative. As a filmmaker, I have admiration low-budget films that can portray much with limited resources and Ghimirey excels in this area.

Today’s filmmakers

Views on Jhola,

A recently made film, Yadav Bhattarai’s ‘Jhola’ is based on Krishna Dharabasi's story of the same name, which critiques the ancient Indian and Nepali tradition of Sati in India and Nepal. While recounting a novel on film has its own risk factors, director Yadav Bhattarai seems to have won the gamble!

Besides the storytelling, its cinematography is of a high order with excellently composed long shots and close-ups. A realistic depiction of location and costumes lent authentication to the film along with an understated acting that marked the mature handling of director Bhattarai.

Although the subject of Sati and violence against women has been in discourse in earlier films, never before has it been handled with the sensitivity and attention to detail as it has been done by the entire crew of this film. Some debatable situations prevail, for example, the opening and ending of the film. While the shaking camera scenes in the opening are meant to reflect the unstable age of the 50s, it did not impact viewers with its metaphor, but rather, left them confused. The treatment of the ending is more like that of a documentary with a feminist-activist stance. Thus, it has a docu-drama quality to it, rather than that of a feature film. Another way to approach the film would be to situate it as a “historical fiction film”. In that, yes, it has clearly secured a high position.

‘Loot’ a crime story by by Nischal Basnet offers a new twist to filmmaking. A narrative with six engaging characters keep you gripped until the end. The script is refreshingly original and the actors selected from theatre are profficient, especially Saugat and Dayahang. The high-voltage crime situations are comparable to those made in Hollywood and Bollywood.

Technically pulled off with aplomb, Nischal and his team have done justice to their learning at cinema school. While the screenplay has been well-crafted, there are voids in the evolution of the characters. Beside Saugat and Reecha, the other actors do not emerge satisfactorily. We can say it is a trend-breaker amidst the plethora of stereotypical films and stories.

‘Chapali Height’ Dipendra K. Khana, with all its efforts is just an average film with a limited plot with actors like Binita Baral who lures you with her youthful confidence but there is much left to be desired in the music score, the unimaginative screenplay and the cutting edge pace required in a thriller.

Change has visited us sporadically. Political change determines much of the creative flow in the arts but in Nepal, it is culture that dominates our society. Cinema has often transgressed political limitations and generated instead, a climate of hope and new beginnings in Nepali Cinema.

Prakash Sayami [b. 1965] is a poet. writer, media guru and filmmaker. Graduating from Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, he embarked as a film director since 1990. He writes in Hindi, Newari, Nepali and English. and has published more than 10 books in Nepali and one in English titled 'Ray: The Man of Cinema' in 1992. He lives and works in Bhainsipati, Lalitpur.