Kagbeni (2008)

Initial release: 2008
Director: Bhusan Dahal
Running time: 2h 10m
Screenplay: Prashant Rasaily
Genre: Horror

Kagbeni is a masterpiece ever directed by any Nepali. it portraits the life style and social images of northern rural part of Nepal. there are series of beautiful glittering images of Nepali culture and nature. the story is amazing and the cast superb, actually the lead actor of this film, Saugat Malla gives the most sensitive role that any other Nepali actors has ever given. the story is about two childhood best friends Ramesh and Krishba. Ramesh sustains his life by selling the apple wine.Krishna then come from abroad to visit him. they both go for the visit to the city where Ramesh can sell the apple juice. On their journey Ramesh finds that his beloved lover Tara is going to marry his friend Krishna due to pressure from her father. on their way they find a saint whom they help to comfort him for a night. in return the saint gift Krishna a monkey paw which is believed to have magical powers. it is believed to fulfill the wish of the man who owns it. on their quest and adventure they find it much difficult to bear it. they find that it bring their life more trouble than happiness. the tagline of the film is "be careful what you wish for", which in my thought is best justified in the film.

Jhola, heartbreaking portrayal of an evil custom, ‘Sati’

Initial release: December 7, 2013 (Nepal)
Director: Yadav Kumar Bhattarai
Running time: 1h 30m
Screenplay: Deepak Aalok
Music composed by: Jeshan Kunwar
Cast: Garima Panta, Sujal Nepal, Deshbhakta Khanal

Jhola becomes successful in portraying the story of most evil custom of Nepal, ‘Sati Pratha’ in a pleasing way. When new age Nepali cinema is characterized by glitzy packaging and fancy camera tricks, this sorrowful tale showing the cruel and inhuman practice of Sati in Nepal has broken many hearts and filled many eyes with tears.

Although the Sati system was abolished decades ago, Jhola is still relevant to today’s Nepal where, unfortunately, cases of sexual harassment, violence against women, trafficking remain all too common. The film may not be technically sound or perfectly enacted, but it succeeds in leaving an impact and inspiring viewers to take a stance.

Based on the well known writer Krishna Dharabasi’s novel, the movie also depicts the relationship between a mother and son beautifully. Director Yadavkumar Bhattarai presents each character with beauty and all the characters must be applauded for their outstanding performance. At the start, I felt there were few amateurish acts, but soon the movie takes rhythm and as the lead actors comes into action, the movie comes to life. Garima Panta performs an outstanding act and so was Laxmi Giri and other actors. Child actor, Sujal Nepal performed a breathtaking act to make all the audiences cry at moments.

The film begins in 1958 B.S. in Kathmandu, when an old man called Ghanashyam (Sujal Nepal) leaves his bag for a night at the writer’s home. As Dharabasi starts reading, story takes him to Nepal of the 18th century. We are introduced to a young Ghanashyam who lives with his mother Kanchi (Garima Panta) and his old, sick father (Desh Bhakta Khanal). After her husband passes away, Kanchi’s life becomes a nightmare. Expected to sacrifice herself on the funeral pyre, Kanchi enters almost a daze like state and goes from being a strong-willed, loving mother to a helpless widow. As she prepares herself for the ceremony and Ghanashyam comes to terms with being orphaned, the anguish of both mother and son becomes palpable on screen. While expertly depicting the pain of the protagonists, director Yadav Kumar Bhattarai also explores the tender relationship between a mother and a son, which imbibes the movie with a soul.

Talakjung Vs Tulke (2014)

Cast: Khagendra Lamichane, Dayahang Rai, Richa Sharma, Sushank Mainali, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Prakash Ghimire
Director: Nischal Basnet
Story: Khagendra Lamichane
Screenplay: Khagendra Lamichane, Nischal Basnet

Talakjung Vs Tulke is a story about a common villager, living in a Nepalese mountain village. A person who is struggling to reclaim his lost aristocratic identity and is humiliated everyday by people around him. He is a common laborer who desperately seeks recognition and respect, ‘Tulke’. Oops sorry, ‘Talakjung Singh Thakuri’ or ‘Babu Saheb’. The story takes place in time of Nepalese Civil War which lasted around 1996 – 2006 in Nepal.

The Nepalese Civil War was an armed conflict between government forces and Maoist fighters in Nepal which lasted from 1996 until 2006. The war was launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on 13 February 1996, with the aim of overthrowing the Nepalese monarchy and establishing a ‘People’s Republic’. It ended with the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed on 21 November 2006. Nepal’s decade-long civil war left more than 16,000 dead, with rebels and security forces accused of serious human rights violations including killings, rapes, torture and disappearances.

    “Bau Saab lai Namaskar nagarda k hunchha balla thaha pais?”

Talakjung Vs Tulke is another masterpiece by Nischal Basnet. I was really impressed by how he took care of every small detail in the movie. It was remarkable journey from start to finish, a new taste. I have known Nishal Basnet for breaking trends in the movie industry, and yet again he has done so with another flawless movie. This movie doesn’t have dramatic dialogues of Rajesh Hamal and breathtaking action of Nikhil Upreti, but has a very powerful script with sensible dialogues and fight scenes. Besides the story, Khagendra Lamichhane was astounding from start till end. He carried out each dialogues and performance very well and deserves credit for how beautiful the movie has become. Dayahang Rai’s special appearance was very short and sweet. There was however only one song, which was not the best.

Plot:

Tulké – a simpleton day-laborer in a Nepalese mountain village –struggles to reclaim his lost aristocratic identity while a violent revolution disrupts every aspect of village life. Humiliated everyday by everybody around him, Tulké desperately seeks recognition and respect. Instead, he is falsely accused by the woman he loves and forced to flee from his ancestral village. When the city corrupts him and teaches him how the treacherous accumulate and wield power, he returns to his village to avenge himself against people who have wronged him and his family. He becomes a lackey to the revolutionaries in the village, and because he refuses to wrong those he loves, finds himself ensnared in a web of deception and violence, leading to a tragic conclusion for everybody.

Sano sansar (2008)

Directed by Alok Nembang    

Cast 
Jivan Luitel                    ...     Siza
Sushila Raimajhi             ...     (as Sushila Raimajhi)
Neer Bikram Shah             ...     Police Officer (as Neer Shah)
Mahesh Shakya                ...     Ravi
Arjun Shrestha    
Namrata Shrestha             ...     Reetu
Vinay Shrestha     Vinay Shrestha     ...     Suraj

Produced by
Bhaskar Dhungana     ...     producer
Rajesh Siddhi             ...     producer
Nakim Uddin             ...     producer
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Naresh Kumar Kc     ...     assistant director

Plot

Sano Sansar is a romantic story between Ravi(Mahesh Shakya) and Reetu(Namrata shrestha). Ravi is recently graduated from pokhara and is a simple, ordinary guy who is totally confused about what he wants. Reetu is little weird girl who knows what she want in her life. They first meet in a bus and Reetu is all drunk and alone. Ravi takes care of Reetu. Neer Bikram Shah (Neer shah), father of Reetu, a police officer gets information that her daughter is with a guy in a lodge, so he catches Ravi and Ravi says that, he hasn't done any thing to her, instead he was helping her. And Reetu's father give him a command that he must take care of her up to his college time of his daughter. And he does that job and Reetu kind of dislikes him very much. And since the recent past they have been chatting in the internet and are a good friends but are unknown to each other. They continue to be intimated in both real life and internet life. later Ravi finds that the girl he chats daily is the same Reetu. But Reetu is unknown about that. And their romantic and tragic days starts...

Well, Sano Sansar is a totally different from our usual movie. And it is comparatively much more effective and worth watching. Every aspect of the movie is good. Alok Nembang has done a good job and set a new milestone in the history of Nepalese film.

LOOT

Initial release: January 13, 2012 (Nepal)
Director: Nischal Basnet
Screenplay: Nischal Basnet
Music composed by: Roshan Thapa, Kiran Tuladhar
Producers: Madhav Wagle, Narendra Maharjan

Loot, a gangstery heist film, set in our now very urban Kathmandu could certainly have been a better film if only it had been slightly shorter. An editor with an unsentimental eye would have sliced away all the unnecessary, repetitive dialogues and the interminable action sequences garnished with the slightly too loud flesh-meets-flesh noises.

The main problem with Nischal Basnet's film is its script, which he also wrote. Not entirely original and more than a little derivative, it starts off with a very prescribed, almost pedantic, introduction into its five main characters, all of whom are in desperate need of money. This is a film written for an ensemble cast, and no particular character comes across as the preferred hero. The actor Saugat Malla as 'Haku Kale' is theatrical and exaggerates his scripted heavy Newari accent unnecessarily, Karma as 'Nare' is good enough with the obligatory red eyes that go with his character as a nocturnal gambler, Prateek Raj Neupane plays 'Khatri' a small time drug/arms dealer with shaggy hair, Dayahang Rai is genuinely hilarious as the unemployed side-kick and loyal friend of 'Pandey' (Sushil Raj Pandey) the star-crossed and slightly too soulful lover of 'Ayesha' played by a charming Reecha Sharma.

The plot of the film is simple enough. We see Haku Kale recruiting the other four characters in order to plan and execute the robbery of a bank. The cinematography is excellent, innovative and slick. However, when the camera moves so much in a film it's usually because the director is worried the story is not strong enough. Not even the best actors can salvage a flawed script. A good script, on the other hand, can be ruined by bad actors. Good writing is the base of good film, and good casting is key.

In order to make good films in Nepal we can no longer rely on gimmicky scripts and innovative camera angles. We must concentrate on writing stories that truly matter, and develop characters with more moral and psychological complexity. Action movies are fun enough, and Loot has its moments, but for truly edifying cinema, we all need to work a little bit harder. Nepal is full of stories, one just has to find the ones worth making for the cost, and the hard-work that goes into any and every film.