By Devendra Gautam
Amid November rain, the accompanying chill and myriad other vagaries, Kathmandu Film Festival generated much-needed heat and light.
The world was not on a holiday at that time nor was national politics, though this scribe was. Tensions were rising, what with the Russia-Ukraine war, China-India row over Arunachal Pradesh, US-China hostilities over Taiwan, the GenZ movement gathering storm in Europe, including in Germany, and the rise of the Right in France.
Well, such things happen in great times like these…
Closer home, our learned Finance Minister was on a visit to a neighbourhood capital where he used the podium to discredit Nepali nationalism (read patriotism) billing it as something that had ‘historically’ been against the next-door neighbour. He went on to declare the ‘end’ of such an approach, highlighting that his government will focus on important matters like attracting foreign investments, creating jobs and developing the country.
A mid-sized country with a far smaller population, economic heft and smaller development needs, Nepal can be no match for the neighbour that is the largest country in terms of population, the seventh largest in terms of land area (3.29 million square kilometres), fourth largest in terms of the size of the economy and the fourth most powerful military. Competing in any respect with the giant, therefore, is out of the question.
Still, Nepal has every right to have a development and growth trajectory that is different from that of the giant.
Our location between two giant neighbours means we need to opt for policies that keep the neighbours as well as the reigning superpower and other powers worth their names at arm’s length. However, deals and treaties of the past, such as the Nepal-India Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the Koshi Agreement, Gandak Agreement and the Mahakali Treaty, have encroached further upon our sovereign space.
Our open border with the next-door neighbour does not only give us good opportunities for trade and commerce, it also poses immense defence-security and demographic challenges as people, especially from the most populous states of the neighbour, and the extended neighbourhood keep streaming into our country through a thinly-manned border for jobs, pilgrimage or for several other not-so-holy intentions. This perennially open gateway has made Nepal shoulder the burden of disadvantaged and displaced populations from the neighbour and beyond even as the country continues to struggle to provide for the national population, accentuating threats to her defence and security.
While projecting his intellectual charisma at a media event in the foreign capital, the second highest-ranking minister in the government forgot – or chose to forget – grim realities like these and channelled his energies into attacking our time-tested worldview that has steered us clear of many a storm – the Cold War, the Hot Peace, domestic turbulence that never seems to end, and the like. Somehow, he forgot to highlight that our foreign policy is based on the United Nations Charter that stands on the sovereign equality of nations and the principle of Panchsheel guided by the teachings of Gautam Buddha.
But why talk about these things when there’s no dearth of experts, who are doing a great job.
Let’s return, then, to the red carpet function.
Filmed in Mugu, ‘Muna’ brought to light the problem of child marriage that comes at great costs of girls’ education, their health and other lifelong consequences while Marichha (filmed in Khotang) highlighted the Mundhum rite of passage involving the lost soul of a pregnant woman, who died with the child in the times of the coronavirus pandemic that left behind a trail of deaths around the world some years back.
The historic ‘Ke Ghar Ke Dera’ (1985) featuring the likes of the late Hariprasad Rimal, Madan Krishna Shrestha, Harivansh Acharya, Vasundhara Bhusal, Sharmila Malla (heroine), Puran Joshi (the hero) under the direction of Nir Shah won hearts once again with its storyline featuring a struggle to get a house in Kathmandu and a stellar performance of the cast and the crew.
After the screening, this writer had a great opportunity to share dinner with some of the greats of Nepali cinema like Madan Das Shrestha, Puran Joshi and Jay Shrestha. During casual conversation, Madan Das Shrestha recalled how he was rejected earlier and mocked with a refrain that he had no photogenic face to star in a film. Later, he made his mark as a character, who duped the late Rimal and Sushila Raymajhi (his wife in ‘Ke Ghar…’), perennially in search of a piece of land to build a house on, of course in Kathmandu and other stellar performances in various Nepali films and radio dramas aired through Radio Nepal. A great-looking Puran Joshi, who has acted in Shantideep (1989), Behuli (1989), Maya (1991), Ghar Aangan (1997), Aghosish Yudda (2003), Arunima (1992), Sorha Varshe Joban (2000) and Pachchis Vasant (1989), disclosed that all those great clothes that he wore in the film were his own, revealing not only his fondness for fine fabric but also the state of the Nepali film industry back then. Jay Shrestha, the hero of the first Newari film, Silu, shared that he also featured as one of the baddies in ‘Ke Ghar…’ alongside Harivansh Acharya.
Kathmandu Metropolitan City, co-organisers, and supporting agencies deserve kudos for bringing these gems to light, along with the cast and crew, and Shabana Azmi from Bollywood, who won hearts with her very short and sweet keynote address on the occasion.
The graceful presence of Bhuwan Chand, who debuted as the heroine of the first Nepali film, Ama (Mother) about 62 years ago, among others, shows that while Nepali film has come a long way, the works of young and independent filmmakers such as Sarjun Rai (Marichha), Pur Bahadur Gurung (A Letter in Winter), Sundar Yonjan (Asubha Ashtami) show the future looks great, though a long journey lies ahead, and it won’t be a cakewalk.
Here’s hoping that this endeavour will continue in the coming days, strengthening the position of Kathmandu as a foremost cultural hub – both avant-garde and ancient – of the world.
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