National 8 (Spotlight Weekly)

In A Losing Battle

Amid deteriorating law and order, daily collections of film halls continue to plummet

By A CORRESSPONDENT

Gone are the days when Indian films were released simultaneously in Kathmandu and major Indian cities. Amid deteriorating law and order in the valley and an upsurge of Maoist violence in and around the capital's periphery, no exhibitor wants to invest large sums of money in the latest blockbusters.

A film theater : Business is down

After the mysterious Hrithik Roshan riots of December 2000 - sparked by anti-Nepal comments attributed to the Indian film star which he denied ever making - no theater owner wants to take risks - physical and financial. Although Hindi films are the first choice of Nepalese viewers, violence has discouraged them from going to the cinema halls.

The newly renovated Jai Nepal film hall was pulling crowds with its mixture of brand-new Hollywood and Hindi productions. After last month's bomb blast there, audiences have been thinning dramatically.

"There is much uncertainty about the future," says a manager at Guna Cinema, Patan, which is known for screening brand-new Hindi films. "Nobody knows when a party might call the next general strike. Moreover,† who knows which part of a film might enrage some people. There is no sense in investing in new films," he adds.

With virtually no evening life in town, hall owners have to depend on two shows for their collections. "We need to pay large sums of money to screen newly released film and to collect more revenue. As audiences are thinning, it is impossible to recover our investment," he says.

Over the past two decades, a series of policy incentives and tax breaks fuelled a boom in an industry that had been languishing in the midst of one film every couple of years produced by the state-owned undertaking. Despite the growth in the number of local productions, Indian films still occupy more than 60 percent of Nepalese market.

Amid massive publicity and promotional activities on FM radio outlets, among other things, Nepalese audiences could expect to see new films well before the reviews had run out. This was a far cry from the situation a decade and a half ago, when relatively older Hindi films ran on for months.

As hall owners are not in a position to buy quality Indian films, they are bringing in older productions, which are cheaper.

Because of the deteriorating law-and-order situation, fewer Nepalese films are being produced. Until a few years back, some 30-40 Nepalese films used to be released each year. But the number of productions has come down drastically. Films released in Dashain, long regarded the best season of the year, have failed to break even.

"The situation is frustrating, as audiences have declined by many folds. Recent revenues are not enough to bear the minimum costs to maintain the film hall," said Uddhav Poudyal, a leading producer and owner of Gopi-Krishna-Radha triplex.

Along with urban expansion in the valley, the number of film halls with modern facilities has increased by many folds over the last few years. Most Nepalese productions made marginal profits while some were runaway successes. The growing popularity of local films among Nepalis living abroad was seen as another boon for the industry.

The flourishing entertainment industry is facing one of the most serious crises in its history. Worse, there is no sign of immediate recovery. As long as theaters are unable to show the latest Indian films, there is little possibility of luring back audiences. And as long as people decide to stay home, theaters cannot bring in new films.