First Nepali Movies

When it comes to Nepali films, enthusiasts today remain but a few. The Nepali film industry has always remained over shadowed by the biggest movie industry in the world, our neighbor, Bollywood. Despite foreign competition and lack of local resources, some remarkable breakthroughs have emerged with films like Basanti, Prem Pinda and the internationally acclaimed Caravan, which even earned an Oscar nomination. For this month's Nepal's column, we look at the first films of Nepal that laid the foundation for the cinema sphere Nepal knows today.

It hasn't been long since the world of cinematography in Nepal was first explored. What's ironic is that the first Nepali film was actually made on foreign soil – south of the border, to be precise. The movie was shot and produced by Nepalis residing in India.

Movie: Satya Harischandra
Director, producer and writer: D. B. Pariyar
Release: 14 Sept. 1951

It was a little more than a decade later when the first Nepali film was made in Nepal itself. Bollywood filmmaker Hira Singh Khatri had come to Nepal on late King Mahendra's request to direct the film which was without doubt bias and has also been deemed as Panchayat propaganda since.

Movie: Aama
Director: Hira Singh Khatri
Produced by: Department of Publicity Film Division
Cast: Shiva Shanker, Bhuwan, Uttam Nepali, Indra Lal Shrestha, Bashundhara Bhusal, Hira Singh Khatri and Hari Prasad Rimal
Release: 7 Oct. 1964

Aama took the nation by storm and held her audience captive. The path to commercial movies was, however, paved by Maitighar.

Movie: Maitighar
Director: B. S Thapa
Produced by: Yogendra Jha and Nara Shumsher
Cast: Mala Singha and C.P Lohani
Release: 15 Dec.1966

The film became so popular that the area where its office was came to be known as Maitighar, and the name remains the same till date. A reason for the movie's success was the appearance of eminent Bollywood actress, Mala Sinha, as the female protagonist. She went on to marry her male counterpart in the film, C.P. Lohani, the kind of silver screen relationship that has not been seen since.

When questioned about the current film industry of Nepal, Viplob Pratik, a renowned film critic, comments, "Progress that time naturally brings about can be apparently seen in the industry. However, what is lacking is the all-round knowledge and know-how of the directors and producers, which leads to stagnation. Filmmakers must be generalists and must be knowledgeable in all areas, whether it be films, politics, economy, literature, music or social issues. Storywriters continue to follow traditional trends and complain that the audience is not ready for change. What the industry needs is for the new generation to step up and bring about a revolution!"

The Nepali film industry has run into hard times the last few years. Most good Nepali films are now not on the silver screen but in the memories of the Nepali audience who were lucky enough to have watched them in the years gone by. The last decade has, however, seen an increase of interest amongst individuals to produce independent films and documentaries have gained immense popularity too. Events such as South Asian Film Festival has played a key role in supporting this phenomenon not just in Nepal but in the entire South Asian region as well.