NATIONAL 9 (Spotlight Weelky)]

Coming Of Age

Kollywood productions are finding more and more takers

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

In the middle of watching "Afno Manchhe", Saraswati Basnet gave birth to a male child on Wednesday (December 12) at Bishnu Theater in Tulsipur, Dang. Cashing in on the media hype, the film-maker declared that she and her family would be provided free lifelong viewing of their films.

The incident shows the growing enthusiasm among the Nepalese audience for local films. Just a few years ago, Bollywood (Indian) cinema were the primary intakes of most of the urban as well as semi-urban residents. These cinemas from the south ruled the roost not only in Terai but also in hilly towns.

But the scene is changing. From making one or two films annually, the Nepalese producers are now churning out 50 o more in the course of a decade.

The fact that despite the imposition of emergency and perceived insecurity, a number of new films have been released and that the people have been braving Kathmandu's December, among others, to see them, speaks volumes about the rising attraction of Nepalese films. Right now the theaters in the capital are screening Ram Krishna Dhakal's "Ashirwaad", Dilip Rayamajhi's "Muskan" and Rajesh Hamal's "Arjun".

"Ashirwaad" is a film based on the life of singer Ram Krishna Dhakal. It did well outside the valley and is now trying to lure the valley audiences. "Muskan" is a musical love story while "Arjun" is action-oriented.

The trend among Nepalese producers is such that they test their films outside the valley before screening it in the capital valley, which represents almost half of the market.

"On average, the business of Nepalese films lie in the range of Rs 7 million to Rs 8 million. They collect half the money from Kathmandu valley and rest from around the country. Their average cost ranges between Rs 4 million and Rs 6 million. While some major hits collect big amounts, most of the films -- about half of them -- fail to recover even Rs 2 million," Uddhav Poudel, a leading producer and theater owner, told SPOTLIGHT recently.

Last year films like "Darpan Chhaya" and "Tan Ta Sarai Bigris Ni Badri" did big business. While the former was a musical and emotional love story, the latter was out and out comedy. Made at the cost of around Rs 3 million "Darpan.." grossed around Rs 30 million all over the country. On the other hand, "Tan ta.." also grossed equal amount but was made at the cost of around Rs 6 million.

But successes like that of Tulasi Ghimire's "Darpan.." and Kiran KC's "Tan ta.." do not come frequently. For every success there are dozens of failures.

However, the encouraging signs for producers has been the steady growth in the market of local films. "For the last two, three years, the market for Nepalese films is increasing rapidly," said Poudel.

The rise in the production of Nepalese films followed the tax rebate given to them by the government. "Moreover, after the Hrithik Roshan episode last December, the market of Hindi films has shrunk further. Although there is no authentic data, I would guess the market share of Nepalese films has reached about 70-80 percent," Poudel said.

Despite their growing numbers and market share, Nepalese films are yet to make a mark on quality. Most of the films, barring few, are cheap imitation of Bollywood cinemas. Recently, Bhuwan KC came up with his latest venture "Superstar" but it was accused by many to be a direct lift of Bollywood hit "Rangeela". Likewise, Ugyen Chhopel's "Badalpari" -- which also hit the valley screens recently -- was charged with similar accusations.

"It is true that many Nepalese films are of sub-standard level. But I guess it is normal in an industry that is still in an infant stage. Hopefully, with the passage of time, we will overcome this problem," said one producer.