Cover Story (Spotlight Weekly)

NEPALESE FILMS
Flop Show

Film industry has been one of the most severely affected industries in the past few years. Just like its rise was spectacular, the fall, too, has been stunning. From the days of churning out 50-60 films a year only two-three years ago, the industry has come crashing down with less than a dozen films released this year. Combined with overall economic gloom, the situation of insecurity has dealt a harsh blow to the silver screen – with lesser films, lesser shows and lesser audiences. Since the situation of insecurity could prolong, the producers will have to come up with alternate ideas to tide over the trouble. As the industry declines by 80 percent, there is a need to forge new strategies like expanding market, searching for commercially exploitable native stories and sheer luck, if the industry is to prevent the inevitable

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Cinema theater : Lack of audiences

At present, it can be arguably said there are more Nepalese film artistes in foreign countries than those who are here. From actors to singers, all have started to flee to the west. The latest addition to this foreign folks is the leading actress and producer Karishma Manandhar.

After her much-touted film “Babusaheb” bombed at the box office, Manandhar is said to have packed her bags and left for the United States to ‘take a break’. Her film, which was reportedly produced at the cost of around Rs 80 lakh could not collect even half its cost despite having an impressive star-cast and hit songs.

The fate of ‘Babusaheb’ is only a tip of the iceberg of problems that the Nepalese film industry has come face to face with this year.

Dismal Situation

Nepalese film industry was making a remarkable progress in the last couple of years. Till two years ago, around 50 films used to be released every year. The leading actors were commanding fees to the tune of Rs 1-2 lakh per film. Actors had to work in shifts.

But this year only around 12 films were released. And none of them made any mark in the box-office.

Actors of Angarakshak : Hit by recession

The average investment of a Nepalese film is around Rs 40 lakh. The industry, which had the total turnover of around Rs 200 million, has now come down by almost 80 percent.

The most remarkable has been the fall of Nepalese films in Kathmandu valley, which is considered as home to 40 percent of total market for a film. “Earlier, good films collected, on average Rs 18-20 lakh from valley alone. Super hit ones even bagged Rs 80-90 lakh from here. But now a film can hardly collect Rs 3 lakh from valley,” said Nirmal Sharma, a member of Film Producers Association of Nepal. Sharma is holding the release of his film ‘Angarakshak’ in Kathmandu valley owing to the difficult situation.

Since the movements of people are restricted, films are finding it impossible to lure audiences to the theater. “In this situation of insecurity and constant fear, the last thing on the people’s mind is to see movie,” said a theater-owner. Theaters are running virtually empty. In fact the night shows of the films had been called off in most of the theaters. In the capital some theaters are luring audiences with fifty percent concession on ticket price for night shows. Ashok Cinema Hall – a reputed theater in Patan – has announced its closure after failing to attract audiences. A new auditorium is expected to be built in its place.

Naturally, the situation outside the capital valley is also not any better. In places like Chitawan, Hetauda, Birgunj, Butwal, Birtamod, Nepalgunj and so on, the administration has restricted the movement of people especially at night. Consequently, people are staying away from film halls. These cities were proving to be quite a burgeoning market for Nepalese films.

There are around 430 film theaters in the country including multiplexes and small high-vision halls catering to 23.3 million people. The average capacity of a film hall is 700 seats. But the occupancy rate of the halls have been less than fifty percent. The average cost of a ticket is Rs 20. Kathmandu valley is by far the largest market occupying around 40 percent of total market share. Rest is distributed across the country.

The frequency of film-shooting, too, has dropped considerably. In the year 2059 (2001/2002), nearly 50 films were released. But in the year 2060 (2002/2003) less than a dozen were released.

Film CDs : Eating up the theater-market

“The FM radios which used to play Top Ten film songs earlier have now began to play Top Five songs because of the lack of films. I had released my film ‘Angarakshak’ (which translates as Bodyguard) in 2059 outside Kathmandu Valley. But I have not been able to release it inside valley owing to the collapse of market, among other reasons. My another film ‘Jetho Kanchho’ is already complete but is yet to be released,” said producer Sharma.

His views are also shared by another young producer Ganesh Bista. “The market has really collapsed. When we decided to make Bazee, the situation was very good. But in a matter of one year, it has deteriorated beyond recognition,” said Sharma, whose film ‘Bazee’ is waiting to be released.

Bista has put on hold his future plan of investing in Nepalese films. “The time is not right,” he said. “Currently, I am rather concentrating in producing and even singing the folk songs albums like Dohari, which has a very good market.”

Way Out

The time has come for Nepalese film producers and artistes to search for alternative strategies for survival. “If new strategies are not adopted soon, the industry will totally collapse,” said Deshbhakta Khanal, a leading director.

Many believe that instead of making low-quality films with stories that sound like repetition of earlier films, producers need to search for unique native stories. “There are many possibilities of making quality films based on native stories. This can help the film industry at a time like this when fewer and fewer people are visiting film theaters to watch Nepali movies,” said another director Navin Subba, who has directed the critically-acclaimed ‘Numa Fung’.

Native stories are fine. But do they have the market? Not everyone is sure about that. “How can you make a film based on say Tharu community and expect all people to be interested in it? That is not the way the commercial market works. People want instant gratification and instant entertainment. Quality and technical supremacy counts rather than native stories,” said a producer. He may have a point when he says that it is not possible to market local stories nationwide. “Maybe that helps in getting few awards but that’s it,” he added.

Leading actors : Hard times

Native stories or not, one thing is clear. The present trends of stories are not going to work anymore. Clear and distinct departures are the need of the hour.

And then there is also the need to expand the market of Nepalese films. Only a small fraction of urban Nepalese go to theaters to watch movies. This has limited the market. Efforts must be made to expand this segment of the population.

There are around 10 million Nepalese living in different parts of India. There are additional 1 million Nepalese workers in Gulf and South-east Asian countries. Clearly, there is a huge market out there. “We can succeed by producing films that touch them,” said a director.

From the days of ‘Satya Harishchandra’ – the first Nepali movie made four decades ago – the film industry has come a long way. It has seen ups and downs. From the height of progress, it has now come down to stagnancy. The film industry has enough resilience to overcome the difficulties but it will need to work hard to get back on high gear and move ahead.