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		Vol. 2 :: No. 11 october, 2000 (Aswin-Kartik)
Entertainment

Employment & Cinema Industry

By Ananta Wagle

The Nepali Film Industry has been providing employment to a large number of people in different disciplines. However, apart from those that appear on the silver screen, most of these people remain unknown to the common public. But undoubtedly, these people behind the scenes play as important roles as the stars that take all the limelight. Business Age brings to the fore some of these players.

Prior to entering the field, renowned fight director Rajendra Khadgi would busy himself with martial arts and weight training in Hetauda. Although not much financial investment was called for in acquiring these trainings, Khadgi had to lose out on other scores – e.g. missing classes in school and not having much time for the family. But the labour has paid off as Khadgi now earns between Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 1,00,000 in remuneration per movie.

People looking to emulate Khadgi do not have to struggle the same way as he did. These aspirants today have the benefit of modern training centres. Moreover, the trainers are often the fight directors of the silver screen doing side jobs. So on one hand if these trainers are making good money, on the other the training institutions are preparing potential action directors for the cinema industry.

Dance is another field of employment created by the Nepali film industry. While the capital alone houses over two dozen dance training centres, the trend is fast catching up in other towns and cities as well. Like Khadgi, today’s prominent Kollywood dance directors such as Basant Shrestha, Raju Shah, Kamala Rai and Shanta Nepali too had to fight their way to the top. As opposed to now, these individuals had no choice but to go to India for training, which also meant quite significant investments. Back home, these people have been responsible for producing the side dancers besides, of course, making the film stars themselves appear fabulous dancers.

Remuneration-wise, dance directors are on a level platform with the fight directors. As for the side dancers, their pay per song sequence amounts to around Rs. 1,000.

This art is really catching the whims of youngsters these days as they are seen flooding training centers. A few boarding schools have also included dance in their extra curricular activities and others are following the example. So what started with limited scope a few years back is now expanding its horizons in geometric proportions.

If there is any aspect of filmmaking that has been suffering from lack of expert manpower, it is the shooting department. And as things stand today, a really good cameraman is in a position to demand pay well exceeding that of leading artistes. The country has no training institution in this field to boast of. This underlines the necessity to cross the border for acquiring expertise to stand behind the cameras.

Till date, no one has attempted to produce manpower in this field in the country itself. Apart from cameramen tutoring their own assistants, no formal training institutions have been established for the benefit of people interested in the field. So although the number of film releases has gone up year on year, filmmakers have limited choice of cameramen and a tug-of-war for a particular camera professional is not uncommon. Some known names in the discipline are Chandraprakash Ghimire, Raju Thapa, Sambhu Sapkota, Murari Thakur, Shiv Kishore Dhakal and Manju Kumar Shrestha. As far as remunerations go, these cameramen charge around Rs. 1,00,000 per movie.

Behind these cameramen, the role of the light boys is a key one. A film requires around six or seven light boys who work under the direction of the cameraman. Their work is more of the physical nature, as they have to carry around reflectors and other lighting equipment.

Another small but key spot in filmmaking is that of the spot boys. They are mainly occupied with the kitchen department and move along with the film unit.

The film is only half-ready with the completion of the shooting. The other half of the movie is completed inside the laboratory where the editor, printer and mixer assume prime responsibilities.

The making of a film therefore provides wide employment opportunities which is rising with the number of film releases. Audience, and with it filmmakers, are now more quality-conscious. Hence in today’s environment, it is not enough to able to do a job but to be able to do it thoroughly. And qualified manpower does have opportunities in the film industry.

Translated by Navin

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