Nepali film producers waste good money and celluloid, but are unable to keep the cinema buffs attention from straying.
It is just one of those ironies that Nepal´s most successful film star is Manisha Koirala, but Nepali films are the last thing she is associated with. Although Ms Koirala´s silver screen journey did begin with a Nepali film, she knew what she was doing when she moved to Bombay six years ago. Today, she is one of the most saleable actresses in Bollywood whereas her onetime colleagues still wallow in the uncertainty of ´Kollywood´, Kathmandu´s shineless film industry. By her own admission, Ms Koirala has not seen her debut film, the eminently forgettable Pheri Bhetaula (Till We Meet Again).
Nepalis love cinema. Theatres are put up wherever the road reaches, and where conventional halls are not practical, video houses do good business. In the remotest of mountain hamlets, pictures of film stars vie for space with posters of deities and family portraits. Film magazines do good business all over and everyone can hum the latest hit tune. Unfortunately, most of this fan following is reserved for Hindi films; Nepali filmmakers have not been able to take advantage of this infatuation.
All that had seemed about to change when, in 1991, the action-packed family drama Chino broke all box office records. There were declarations that after decades on the road, Nepali cinema had finally arrived. Prior to Chino, which featured Nepal´s established stars, Shiva Shrestha, Bhuvan KC and Kristi Mainali, well-received Nepali films had enjoyed only modest success.