If you ask a youngster if they have watched a Nepali movie recently then you are sure top get a positive response. This would not have been the case a few years ago especially during the period of Maoist insurgency in Nepal most investors shied away from investing in a movie. Lack of a budget often results in a poor quality movie even if its story is strong. The picture quality, the back ground scenes, the smooth running of a movie is necessary to make it a good movie along with a tolerable plot line. There have been instances when a movie did not have a straight plot and still got critical acclaim because of the use of the camera and other elements. With movies like Sano Sansar (A small world), Mero Euta Saathi Cha (I have a friend) in 2008 and 2009 and First Love and the recent, Kohi Mero (Someone is mine) in 2010, which targets the urban young generation, Nepali movies have gained a long lost viewers.
It is not to say that all the new Nepali movies made today are different, either in look, or presentation. Many Nepali movies still follow a formulaic plotline, which was characteristic of Hindi movies in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. They may not attract the urban viewers, but it would be foolish to suppose that the movies do not do well in the market. If that was so, then the action sequence featuring Rajesh Hamal and Nikhil Upreti would not be able to pull a large number of people to the movie halls. Similarly, the actors and the directors would not be working in the industry at all, if their movies did not earn them good money. However, it is also true that making good movies has been a concern for the young generation and the movie industry is gaining young directors, like Alok Nembang and Simosh Sunuwar, who want to do things differently. Apart from that, films such as Das Dhunga, based on the investigation of the death of the Communist leader, Madan Bhandari and a patriotic film, Dus Gaja have also been able to please the viewers and the film critics.
Film making should be considered an innovative and a creative process, by the film technicians and the actors, if Nepali films are to attract International attention. In today’s world, it is not enough to be known by the domestic viewers; it is also equally important to compete with the movies from many places in the world. Only if Nepali movies can attract the educated and creative manpower, it can reach higher and expand its horizon. This will certainly make everyone proud; the young urban population and the rest of the mass of film goers.
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