'Basanti Tells A Love Story'

Neer Bikram Shah, Executive Chairman of Shangri-la Channel and National Studio, is a well-known name in the audio-visual sector and film industry of Nepal. Born in Kathmandu in 1953, Shah graduated from Tribhuvan University in Political Science and Economics. Shah was offered the Fellowship in Broadcasting Management of European Broadcasting Union. Having completed Orientation Course in Educational Television Programming from the US, he was also involved in the travel sector for many years. Shah, who founded several organisations, has a wide knowledge and experience in several other fields. He was also the Executive Chairman of Nepal Television.

Member of Board of Governors of Worldview International Foundation Nepal, he is affiliated to various associations such as Nepal Press Institute, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Royal Nepal Academy. Decorated with more than 10 awards ranging from Gorkha Dakshin Bahu IV to Suprabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu, he also has several national and international awards to his credit such as Mahendra Sadhana Chalchitra Samman (Life time achievement award), 72nd Motion Picture Academy Award "Oscar" for his significant contribution to the film industry of the country. Travelled worldwide, he has participated in a number of international conferences and workshops. Popular actor, director and producer of a number of Nepali films, Shah talked to Prem N. Kakkar and B. M. Dahal of this weekly regarding issues ranging from the development of Nepalese film industry to its problems and prospects: Excerpts:

You have a strong track record as the chief of Nepal Television in the past. How do you visualise the role of TV at present and the need to allow more TV channels in the country?

The national goal cannot be achieved only through the state-owned media, whether it be electronic or print. The government’s efforts alone will not be enough. I have come out of the government media and started day TV channel and F.M. service. This effort is directed towards materialising TV channels in the private sector also. Under the existing legal provisions, I am transmitting Shangri-la Channel. I think, we are the largest channel in the private sector. Through a single house Rs. 200 million is generated every year from the operation of the day TV. We have seen many successful private sector TV channels in India which have been discharging national duties. We have also to move ahead. Otherwise, Indian channels will penetrate the Nepalese market. That we must stop.

Then, what could be the role of the government media?

The government media need to take the lead and the government should work as a facilitator to achieve the envisaged goals. The private sector media have to play secondary roles. What I mean to say is that both of them have to work together in this regard.

What has been your bitter sweet experience in your long stint in the audio-visual media?

There is no monetary benefit in the beginning. The government’s policies are also not favourable for the private sector media. Many efforts undertaken to build up pressure for reforms in the existing policies proved unproductive.

So far as sweet experience is concerned, after a long struggle the industry has come to the present situation. I have envisaged a brighter future of this industry. In due course of time, this will be one of the most successful industries in the country.

How do you view the Nepalese film industry?

We have not been able to bring the film industry on the right track. The present exercises are not enough to enhance the quality of this industry. However, it is providing employment opportunities to about 15,000 people. Every year, the industry attracts investment to the tune of Rs. 150 million and the turnover is encouraging.

In the past, we had to produce more films as we had to offset the influx of Indian films. Now the situation has changed. Although the producers and exhibitors do not provide proper statistics, about 60 per cent of the films being exhibited here are local products. Only 40 per cent of them are foreign ones. This is good. At present, even the viewers are able to distinguish the good ones from the mediocre. This compels the producers to come up with quality films, if not they fail. Another step is to be able to go to the international market with our products. So, we must emphasize quality and not quantity only. Caravan is a proof that we can go to the international market with confidence.

As a film industrialist, what do you think are the problems that have been obstacles in the path of the desired development of the Nepalese film industry?

We have yet to market Nepalese films to the desired extent and we have also failed to give the required momentum to the film industry. I think, both the government policies and dishonest practices prevalent in the private sector are responsible for the present situation of the film industry.

We pin hope on Nepal Motion Picture Development Board which is expected to give a new lease of life to the Nepalese film industry. The government policy must not humiliate the professionals who are the life blood of this industry.

All the other professionals are given the facilities to import and use necessary equipment. But a has to pay more than 100 per cent duty while importing camera, editing and sound recording machines. Our creativity has suffered due to lack of technical equipment. In the past, the 65 per cent entertainment tax refunded to the film maker saved the film industry. But following the reformation in the policy, film industrialists in Nepal are suffering.

Besides, the government has not monitored the distribution and exhibition of films properly in the country. A film hall in eastern Nepal, I do not want to give the name, exhibited Hindi films almost throughout the year but it reported that Nepal films were shown for 11 months in the year. This particular hall evaded tax in this manner.

I think, the government has to impose tax but at the same time it should create a conducive environment for the production of quality films.

What was the urge that led to the production of films like Caravan and Basanti?

After conducting an extensive research for some years, Eric Valli conceived the idea of producing the film Caravan. I was the co-producer of that film.

As far as end product Basanti is concerned, it was the culmination of my six-year long project. I was motivated to produce the film as soon as I went through the historical novel Basanti. I was really interested. It was not an easy job yet I persevered and the film is in front of the viewers to judge the merits. Basanti is a film based on a historical novel.It is about the love between Gagan Singh and Basanti and the political events that unfold out of it. The implications, I mean. So the thrust is on the love affair. It tells a love story. The constraints of making such a film are there.

Any new film under production?

Nabhana Malai Narou is under production. I am busy shooting this new film.

How many films have you produced so far?

I have produced eight films, directed 4 and financed 17. And I have played various roles in many films. My devotion to this industry will continue.

Chainpur In The Picture

BY PNK

The Revolution Of 2007 and Chainpur; By Bharat Kumar Shakya; Published by: Chainpur Literary Society, Chainpur Bazaar, Sankhuwasabha; No. of Pages: 71; Price: Rs. 100.

The revolution of 2007 B.S. is etched in the history of Nepal as a glorious event that paved the way for the freedom of the Nepalese people and the assertion of their rights. But behind all the struggle and sacrifices are the people who acted for the interest of all and not their personal self. This itself is sufficient to show that there are always people who cast aside their own interests to work for the welfare for the multitude.

The revolution would not have been successful in achieving the objective if there had not been the dedicated ones. They were the people who brought in the much coveted freedom to the people and make them enjoy their fundamental rights.

But, the organisation for achieving the purpose was not a makeshift one. A lot of thought and effort went into mobilising the band of revolutionaries in making what seemed impossible a reality.

In this context, the contribution of the people of Chainpur must be acknowledged. it was not one person alone that could materialise the dream but there were many who had the vision of a prosperous Nepal. The democrats of Chainpur contributed their mite in their own way. The importance of their contribution is well known.

The Revolution of 2007 and Chainpur is a "historical document" that tries to focus on the contributions made by the people of Chainpur during the struggle for democracy. It is no mean achievement that what they did added to the momentum leading to the ushering in of democracy in 2007 B.S. The book is an account of the events, as related by one of the "warriors" of the movement, namely Madan Prasad Shrestha. that led to the historic day in the year 2007 B.S. with special reference to Chainpur.

It all started with the Chainpur students studying in Darjeeling who came to take part in the Satyagraha movement. The going was tough yet the participants had zeal and energy and were not deterred by hardships or the fear of punishment. The courage of the Chainpur residents who took part in the historic struggle is beyond words to describe.

After all, no revolution is complete without local participation. This is seen by the assistance offered by Chainpur residents to the freedom fighters from Bhojpur. This started the movement in full swing. Nothing could stop the forces from gaining strength. The attack on Majorpati started the ball rolling.

In all the book has tried to bring to light the events that brought Chainpur into focus in the struggle for establishing democracy in the country. It is true that the people there had to suffer but when the greater welfare of the people of Nepal was there, personal comforts were rejected. The book has been successful in its own way in highlighting the contribution of Chainpur to usher in democracy in the country. Its every single action, howsoever small it may be, to achieve something grand. And in this case it was democracy.

The writer has done well to bring this facet of the struggle for democracy to acquaint that Chainpur did not lag behind. The people of Chainpur were a part of the movement. The few photographs document offer a better insight. It is an effort worth praising.

Satya Harishchandra Led TheWay

By Bishnu Gautam

Nepalese films have come a long way since the first-ever Nepali film Satya Harischandra was released in 1950. It was shot, produced and released in India by Nepalese living there, only 54 years after the celluloid magic had begun. D. B. Pariyar was the director, script and story writer of the film.

However, there are some people who like to argue that the first Nepali film was Harischandra and not Satya Harischandra. They say it was directed by a group of directors, including D. B. Pariyar. They have posters and stickers to support their argument. Anyway Harischandra that was released on Bhadra 8, 2008 B. S. was the first film made in the Nepali language.

Almost 14 years after the release of (Satya) Harischandra, Aama was released on Ashwin 15, 2002 B. S. in Kathmandu. In fact, Aama was the first ever film produced in Nepal. It was produced by the Department of Publicity Film Division under the Information Ministry with the aim of strengthening and popularising the newly introduced partlyless polity in the country.

Hira Singh Khatri, who had come to Nepal from Mumbai at the request of late King Mahendra, had directed this first Nepali film to hit the screen in quite a big way. All the artists of Aama were Nepali nationals. Senior musician Shiva Shanker was the main actor and Bhuvan Thapa the actress in the film. Director Hira Singh Khatri, Hari Prasad Rimal, Bashundhara Bhusal now popularly nicknamed as ‘Nakkali’, Uttam Nepali, Indra Lal Shrestha and many others made up the cast.

Maitighar, the first Nepali commercial film made in the private sector, set the tone for the real development of the film industry in the country. Nanda Kishore Timilsina’s role was crucial in the making of Maitighar. Dr. Yogendra Jha and General Nara Shumshere were its producers whereas B. S. Thapa was the director.

Appearance of popular Indian actress Mala Sinha as the heroine was a special feature that lent adequate support to the film. C.P. Lohani was the hero of the film that was released on December 15, 1966. However, Maitighar did not prove to be the source that could bring about vigorous private sector participation in making Nepali films. 18 years passed before Juni, the second Nepali film, turned up.

On Falgun 2, 2024 B. S. Department of Publicity Film Division under the Information Ministry screened its second film—Hijo Aaja Bholi. This was also directed by Hira Singh Khatri. Bhuwan Thapa was its principal female character whereas Mitra Lal Sharma, totally a new face, was the hero of the film. Among other artistes were Bashundhara Bhusal, Hari Prasad Rimal, Indra Lal Shrestha, Pradip Rimal and Sridhar Khanal.

After Hijo Aaja Bholi, the Publicity Department made its third and last film—Paribartan in 2027 B. S. and released it in 2028 B. S. Paribartan based on Chetana, a drama by Janardan Sama, was basically made to publicise and popularise the ‘Back to Village Campaign.’

It was rather a slow pace that the film industry moved forward. Two decades and only five Nepali films! Among them three were produced by the government owned agency. Then all equipment and technicians had to be brought from India. However, the four films produced within the country helped bring to light some new directors, actors, actresses as well as technicians like Baikundaman Maskey and Shyam Mohan Shrestha.

That sums up the efforts that marked the first 20 years in the Nepalese film industry’s history. The scattered works did, indeed, lay the foundation stone for the spurt of films produced in recent times.

JOTTING OTHERWISE BY MRJ

LAST WEEK, we devoted our attention to sex-related items as reported in the media. To clean out your truly’s collection of such clippings, allow me to put one final item in which, for space reasons, had to be left out the previous week.

ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW: The item in question, provided by the German news agency DPA if you must know, begins thus: Did you know that the breast size of Asian women has increased from 32a to 34c within the past 20 years? Or that Hong Kong men are unique in carrying condoms in their shoes?

Anyway, a book by Ruth Mackay -- a 56-year old British grandmother, a doctor in preventive health and a resident of Hong Kong -- tells you everything you ever wanted to know about sex, plus a good deal more than that which will ever cross your mind.

The book, Penguin Atlas of Human Sexual Behaviour, contains, apart from other things, a mass of sexual trivia, a sampling of which is supplied by the DPA item.

Such as how the average Briton spends 3.5 years of their life eating, 2.5 years talking on the phone, two weeks kissing and has sex 2,590 times with five different people in his or her lifetime. In Brazil, 44 per cent of women confessed to faking orgasms. Interestingly, however, Brazil also boasts the more durable lovers. An average sex session there lasts 30 minutes compared to 23 minutes in Australia, 13 minutes in Hong Kong and just 10 minutes in Thailand.

Now here’s more of the same. In Hong Kong the average person aged between 16-45 has sex times a year, just over once a week, dramatically lower than the average of 106 in the countries surveyed.

Thailand lays claims to the most untruthful young males, with 52 per cent of the 16-25 year old admitting to being unfaithful compared to 24 per cent of those in Hong Kong. In the other age group, 28 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women in Thailand are unfaithful compared to 22 and 8 in Japan, 14 and 1 per cent in the Philippines and 8 and 1 per cent in Hong Kong.

For Nepali readers, it may be more interesting to learn that according to Dr Mackay’s survey, people have less sex as they grow older, specially in Asia where in some places sex after 40 is almost unheard of. In India, for example, many couples abstain from sex at 50 or when a woman has a married daughter or becomes a grandmother.

Riveting stuff? I don’t know. Still it is information, of sorts. And don’t forget, the book took a full five years for Dr Mackay to produce. Nevertheless, one is not surprised that her work has been unkindly dismissed by some as "serious facts disguised as pornography".

THE FOOD OF LOVE: Recently, Kathmanduites, this chappie included, were enthralled by melodious gazals by the famous Pakistani maestro Ustad Gulam Ali Khan.

Gulam Ali, as he is popularly known, had visited 16 years back. Then, too, yours faithfully had had the splendid opportunity of listening to his golden voice -- at a private sitting at the home of the late General Samrajya Shumshere Rana.

Interestingly, although gazals are in generally in Urdu the gazal fad has taken hold of sections of the population, spurred on the one hand by cassette albums (now CDs) of famous gazal singers and on the other by the spate of "gazal restaurants" that it has spawned in Kathmandu over the past decade or so.

While Gulam Ali performed for several evenings, including one in the royal palace, the one that I attended, along with hundreds of other delighted guests, was organised by the Pakistan Embassy at the Birendra International Convention Centre.

The musical evening got going with late King Mahendra’s romantic song "Gajalu tee thula thula ankha" which the gazal master had first recorded in Nepali 16 years ago.

Although one was told that the actual programme would be of one hour’s duration, it extended to nearly two hours. That was due not only to prolonged applause from the audience for each and every number but to a succession of requests from them for particularly popular numbers.

Too bad such euphonious musical occasions are so rare.

PERILS: Browsing through the newspapers recently, I came upon some lovely quotes bearing on the theme of war and peace -- prompted by the UN Millennium Summit -- which I want readers of this column to share.

One has reference to the well-known British complaint, during World War II, describing American GIs based in Britain as being "overbearing, over-paid, over-sexed and over here."

The other has reference to UN peacekeepers and a recent report which found that many of the UN’s 35,000 troops are "under-trained, under-equipped and under fire". (We’re all sure, aren’t we, that such a jibe does not apply to our own blue-berated or blue-helmeted chaps.)

Finally, there is this lament from Thomas Hardy: "War makes good history, while peace provides poor reading." Incidentally, he is also credited for penning the following lines, "After a thousand years of Mass/We have come up to poison gas" -- that was, of course, much before the days of the nukes.

Incidentally, one is informed that according to learned historians in the 5,600—year history of the world since 3600 BC, peace has been experienced for barely 292 years!