Entertainment

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Until a few years back not all cine artistes thought acting would be a lucrative profession. Today, quite a few, if not all, can be said to be minting money - at least in relation to the income of the average Nepali in other professions.

One such money-minter seems to be Bipana Thapa. Drawing remuneration of between Rs. 70,000 and Rs. 90,000 per film, Thapa agrees that her life-style would have been quite different if she had pursued another career. Says she, "Our standard of living, at least in the Nepali context, is quite high." Known for being easier to work with than with other actresses, Thapa has given countless number of hits and now bags about 7 or 8 films per year. Her screen name also appears to have caught the fancy of Nepali cinema-goers. This, coupled with her girl-next-door looks and dancing ability, does elongate Bipana Thapa’s career as a money-minter. Having already added a storey to her house this year, Thapa now thinks that a car would really make things easier for her.

Established only a year back, Ramesh Upreti has this year bought a car. Happy to have been successful in making both name and money in such a short time-span, chocolate-faced Upreti says "It will now be difficult to live up to expectations." Competition has also heated up with new faces coming in.

Upreti, charges around Rs. 60,000 a film and leads quite a well-to-do life style though still living in a rented apartment. His film producers, however, have so far not been able to make much money from his films. In this regard, Upreti can consider himself fortunate, for despite being unable to give any big hit, he is still getting offers.

Talking about the more established Kollywood artistes, Karishma Manandhar immediately comes to mind. Married to an affluent family now, Karishma not only made herself rich but ensured that her producers made big money as well. Most of the movies she did in the latter part of her career ran to packed houses for quite a while, and some are still doing well. She, thus, is the first choice for a number of film-makers. She is undoubtedly one of the biggest money-minting stars of the Nepali film industry.

Karishma is learned to have put up a house each in Chabahill and Godavari - not all from her personal earnings, however. Her renumerations amount to about Rs. 100,000 a film. These days, we also see her changing her career startegy and opting to do only a few, meaningful films. She has also assumed the role of a producer. Says she, "I now have to also concentrate on my own home productions and will therefore not have much time to do too many outside ventures."

Well-off even before joining films, Rajesh Hamal is perhaps the best paid Nepali film artistes. Although none of his movies have celebrated a hundred-day run in any of the chinema theatres, Hamal ramains a favourite with a number of cinema-makers because his films almost always guarantee, if not handsome profit, at least a pay back of the investment. As far as strategy goes, Hamal seems to believe in doing as many films as possible and amassing as much financial gains as he possibly can. Says Hamal, "If not today, certainly after a few years, I will not be able to act in films even if I wanted to." Hamal, who has acted in about 50 odd films, now charges around Rs. 200,000 a film.

The duo of old-timers Bhuvan KC and Sushmita KC have now begun doing films outside their home production. Considered the only real hero at one time, offers stopped flowing in for Bhuvan KC when he went into film production. That, however, changed when KC’s own productions, "Karodpati" and "Nepali Babu", did very well. KC has now landed roles in Dayaram Dahal’s ‘Tan Ta Sarai Bigris Ni Badri", Lakshminath Sharma’s "Ukali Orali" and Binod Sherchan’s "Badal Paarima". Numerous Bhuvan KC films have completed the hundred-day record. Thus, along with himself, he has also made his film-makers rich.

Bhuvan KC’s oldest competitor and contemporary, Shiva Shrestha, was also a very sought-after name. Things have however gone differently for Shrestha as he is no more flooded with offers as he used to be. Nonetheless, Shrestha, and also Bhuvan KC to a certain degree, can boast of another achievement - of being a craze in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well.

Among the newer faces, Niruta Singh, Jal Shah and Shree Krishna Shrestha come forward as marketable names. Their films are doing well and because they are not required to pay tax of any kind and get free meals (at the sets) it seems that in due course of time, they too will be minting money.

-Translated by Navin