Entertainment (Business Age)

Entertainment

Entertainment Industry Falling Prey to State of Emergency

By Ananta Wagle

Nepalese Film Industry has been adversely affected by the state of Emergency imposed by the Government three months ago after the Maoist rebels diffused the negotiation talks going on between them. The only industry which was racing up in the past, seems to be coming down with equal speed now. Thus many Financiers and distributors are forced to exile from this business.

Millions of investment seems to go down the drain as the Film Business which covers majority of the Entertainment Industry takes a back gear. It takes normally around fifty to sixty lakhs to produce one movie, but now even after months passes along they do not get distributors to release them. And, this is not the case with few films but more than a dozen films are suffering from this state of affairs. Even if a movie struggles down its way through cinema halls, they fail at the box office, and sometimes even the cost of it is hardly met. As a result, those who are ready with a film are not able to make new start and this pessimistic approach of the market makes new investors reluctant of putting their money in the film line.

One of the outstanding producer of Nepalese Film Industry, Ashok Sharma, laments over the situation as he waits for the condition to improve so that his "Mitini" gets a distributor friend. "How long shall I wait to release my film which had cost me fifty five lakhs?" asks Sharma.Speaking on the current turbulent time he relates that now it is hard to even make half of the turnover. But, he still shows some rays of hope as he plans to start a new project by coming July. "But if the condition improves", he adds. Even veterans like Yuvraj Lama, Yadav Kharel, Nir Shah are also very cautious on launching new films, where as new comers are putting less money in it. However if we look two three years back, investments used to range from thirty to forty lakhs to exactly double but now the picture is completely different. Directorial venture of Aakash Adhikari "Panchi" cost its producer ninety lakhs and Karishma Manandhar’s "Babu Saheb" has already reached eighty lakhs. These movies were shot long before the declaration of Emergency, thus the price itself tells the story of the situation before Emergency. But, now the big question for them is how to get the investment back? "Mann Mandir" of Yuvraj Lama is a successful movie but it simply collected its total cost, forget the profit. On the one hand movies costing millions are on the shelf and on the other hand good producers are alienating themselves from the Industry.

But, the problem with exhibition is vaster than the problem with production and distribution. Mushrooming of new Cinema Halls, till last year, are on the verge of collapse now. Most of the halls are showing Hindi films to attract viewers. Few halls are having night shows in the valley whereas these shows have become a story of distant past for those outside Kathmandu. New theatres are in loss and the old ones are not happy with the profit. It had cost six crores to build "Ashta Narayan" and same is the case with "Chamunda". But, no matter how fancy and stylish the hall, very less people come to see movie there and it has become an uphill task for the owners to pay back its interests. A triplex hall "Barahi", in Bhaktapur, is ready for the viewers. "It is built at a cost of around seven to eight crores", informs its investor Rajendra Shakya. But, the adverse situation of the country is surely to affect the business of this hall too. Some have even started to think that it is better to shut it down for the time being.

The only one saving grace of the Entertainment Industry was music, but the "recession bug" seems to capture this area too. Anand a Karki is waiting for the condition to improve to release his latest album,"Sagar". "It will not only affect my career but also the business" says Karki. Navin K. Bhattrai and Dipesh Kishor Bhattrai are also in the same plank. "It is ready but we are not in hurry" they say in chores. Yam Baral and Ram Krishna Dhakal are in no mood to take risk. Music Companies are going on loss. According to Mahesh Shakya of Audio Sound Industries, even a simple movie album used to earn approximately ten thousand but now even hit ones do not reach there. Similarly Vinod Mittal of Master Recording doubts whether one can earn one’s bread in this field or not.

The State of Emergency is not only ruining the business of the Entertainment Industry but pushing it down no the dark pit of uncertainties, from where it might take ages to emerge out of it.

Translated by Shailee