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Vol. 4 :: No. 1 January,
2002 (Paush
- Magh)
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Entertainment
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Entertainment |
| Kollywood and Information Technology
-By Ananta Wagle The use of information technology (IT) and computers in the Nepali cinema industry can be looked upon as a relatively recent. So much so that the use of the technology, rather than being driven by its practicability, has been recoursed to for convenience sake. It has been a few years since computers have been brought in use in film editing. In fact, the technology gained entry through Arun Malla’s ‘Image’. Apart from this editing technology – called avid system – the film industry has not seen much in terms of introduction of other advanced technologies. Since the establishment of the studio by the name of ‘Cinematrix’ by Karun Thapa, expert in film editing, the usage of computers is seen to have generally grown. Even the general cine-goers are said to have begun noticing mild usage of animation in Nepali films. Moreover, film-makers opine that the new technology has proved to be cheaper costwise as opposed to the in vogue previously technology. Says director Narayan Puri, who is believed to have used the avid technology in construction of numerous films, "Without confining technology usage to editing, if it can be utilised in other areas of film-making, not only will the budget come down but it will also have a telling effect on the quality aspect." On the other side of the picture, film pundits view that Kollywood is still lacking in terms of marketing. Although modes of communication have been developed to unimaginable new heights, Nepali film-makers and investors have been accused of not taking advantage of the development. And rightly so, given the fact that it was only recently with Ugen Chhopel’s ‘Badalpaari’ that a Nepali film made it to the Internet. The film’s webpage, made at a cost of some Rs 30,000, is believed to have done much in terms of providing information to viewers living abroad. As opposed to Bollywood and Hollywood where the entire film can be downloaded from the Internet, the Internet here has been confined to providing selective information. The scope for improvement, hence, remains unlimited, point out industry watchers. After ‘Badalpaari’, the Internet whim has caught on with films like ‘Gaajal’, ‘Jeevan Sathi’, ‘Super Star’, etc too finding place on the net. Although the Internet remains inaccessible for a major portion of the Nepalis population film-makers relate that for Nepalis living overseas, the medium has acted as an effective marketing tool. Bhuwan KC claims that his film ‘Super Star’ was successful in landing a positive response in the United States and Hong Kong thanks mainly to awareness created by placing information related to the film on the website. KP Pathak, the director of ‘Gaajal’, also relates that Nepali film lovers abroad raised various comments after the film was put on the net. A number of web pages can be found on the Internet that look to provide information on the Nepali film industry. One such website is movienepal.com which provides such information as film reviews, star profiles, etc, and is updated on a weekly basis. nepali-cinema.com and nepalnews.com are other related websites that give a similar kind of look into the Nepali film industry. However, lack of sufficient advertisements is seen as major hitch in updating these websites. It is learned that investment worth between Rs 20,000 and Rs 60,000 is required to erect a web page. Says Karun Thapa, the film industry’s popular web page designer, "The cost of erecting the page is dependent upon the type and amount of information the page is to hold. The web page generally seen now call for investment of around Rs 30,000." Industry watchers, however, state that in this age of communication, the flow of information related to the cinema industry has still not been properly channelised. Where personal information of film stars can be derived from their own websites in Hollywood and even in Bollywood, in contrast the Internet is still not accessible to a large number of stars here. Says old time pro Bhuwan KC, "I now think it is essential for me to create my personal website. Previously, we were just not aware of the utility of the Internet," So much so that most of the stars are not educated to log on to any website, leave alone understand how information flow takes place, say IT professionals. What is, however, important to realise is that the all those involved with the Nepali film industry, although late, have begun to comprehend the importance of information technology. They must now make sure that they make good use of it immediately. Translated by Navin |
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