Month: January 2011

What can we expect when Bhuwan KC becomes a Prime Minister?

Posted on by Raunak

Bhuwan KC made news when he joined a political party, Nepal Communist Party United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). Almost every media had their own reasoning on the this political gamble of Bhuwan KC. As Bhuwan has a track record of doing something controversial before the release of his movies, many assumed it to be a promotion tool for his upcoming Saathi Ma Timro. But, when asked, he denied the allegation.

Views of various insiders of the Nepali movie industry were also published in the media. Many of those think politics is out of the scope for the artists. Movie artists should serve the country by being a politically neutral person. Few others say that in a democratic country, artists are free to choose whether they join political parties or not. In our neighboring movie industry, Bollywood, and Hollywood there are many examples of actors taking top posts after winning elections.

I called Bhuwan KC to know his version of the story on what caused him to join that particular party.

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Miss Newa 2010 is Sugena Shakya

Posted on by Anand Nepal

In an event held on December 30, 2010, Sugena Shakya of Lalitpur, Jawalakhel was crowned the Miss Newa 2010 title.

Sugena had to compete with 36 participants from all over the country. In addition to the Miss Newa title she also won the title of "Miss Nepal Language". Sugena was awarded a gift hamper of Rs. 25,000.

The first runner-up of Miss Newa contest was Lashata Shrestha of Maharajgunj and second runner-up Nisha Shakya of Thahiti, Kathmandu. Lasala and Nisha each received gift hampers equivalent to Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 15,000 respectively.

Among other title winners were: Miss Talent – Dipika Shrestha, Miss Personality – Sweta Bajracharya, Miss Charming – Arina Tuladhar, Best Skin – Urusha Tuladhar, Miss Friendship – Diya Byanjankar, Best Hair – Nisha Shrestha, Miss Photogenic – Sujana Prajapati, Miss Discipline – Sony Manandhar, Best Smile – Shreebha Joshi, and Viwers’ Choice award was awarded to Pravina Maharjan.

In addition to regular titles, five more beauties were awarded district ambassadors. District ambassadors of Shyangja was Puja Shrestha, Kaski – Manjin Ranjitkar, Dhulikhel – Deepa Sonju, Banepa – Subi Kayastha and Makawanpur – Meera Balami.

Shiva Linga – why worship the Shiva phallus?

Posted on by sunita

It really has not been that long, when I came to know, we Hindu worship a Shiva’s Linga (Shiva Lingam); Lord Shiva in the form of a phallus (penis). But, this knowledge made my skin crawl shiver in sheer disgust.

One of my friends, who is devoted to Shiva, tried to make me understand her side of story, a good side to that story. But I was so disgusted; my mind refused to understand the good-good things she was telling me. My mind simply rejected to hear her version of the worship culture. I am a Hindu by birth but, I have lost the respect for the religion due to absurd things like worshiping the Shiva Linga. Going temple every morning to worship somebody’s phallus (who cares even if belongs to a god) is just too much in the name of Dharma. Give me a break. I am not that type.
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Bangladeshis working illegally in the Capital

Posted on by Anand Nepal

Hundreds of Bangladeshis, who were brought in the capital by trafficking rackets to transit them to Gulf countries, are stranded in Kathmandu. They remained here in the capital after the racketeers abandoned them.
According to police report, over 400 Bangladeshis are involved illegally working in construction of apartments in order to survive in the Capital. Police also suspect that most of these illegal workers may have been trapped in the Capital without money to return home.
Sheikh Abdul Alim, 35 is believed to be the ringleader of Bangladesh-based racket that has been trafficking Bangladeshis laborers in the Capital. They are promised of employment opportunities in Arab countries and lucrative life.
Further investigation on the past records could reveal increasing number of Bangladeshis in the Capital in past few years. These racketeers are making Capital transit point to supply laborers to third countries.
The exact number of Bangladeshis immigrants in Nepal is not tracked according to The Department of Immigration.

Minister felicitates an illegal driver (Six year old drives school bus)

Posted on by Anand Nepal

A six-year-old drives an school bus in Kathmandu. And, a minister, Minendra Rijal, felicitates the kid for doing the "great job".  

What amazed me most is that nobody told the minister that it is illegal to drive under 18, according to the traffic law in Nepal.

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Let's demand Saptahik to be categorized an 'adult' magazine

Posted on by Anand Nepal

UPDATE: An online petition –To Name Nepali Weekly – Saptahik an Adult-Only Magazine– is started.

A disclaimer first: I don’t know anybody, in person, in Kantipur publication; they have never done any harm to me or anybody I know. Nobody has told to write this article and I have nothing personal to gain or loose by writing this article.

A Nepali weekly, published by once the biggest media house in Nepal, Saptahik, has claimed itself to be targeted to "EVERYBODY" and is publishing contents inappropriate for the children. I have raised this question more than a couple of times and have used every possible medium of communication to get reply from the concerned journalists in Kantipur publication. But, to my dismay, they have chosen to keep themselves in closed door.

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Movie Reviews – How do Nepali reviewers review movies?

Posted on by Raunak

Note: This article follows the previous article – Movie review – How is it done? in which Raunak has talked about how a good review is written. In this article, Raunak is analyzing some Nepali movie reviews.

At the time when Hindi movie Ravaan featuring Avisekh Bacchan and Aiswarya Rai was released (June 18, 2010), Nepali daily Kantipur published a review of the movie after a few days of the release. The review mentioned that the movie also featured Manisha Koirala and Govinda. The article appreciated their role even if they appeared briefly in the movie. I had watched the movie on June 19 (before the review was published) so I had to ask a friend for the DVD of the movie to confirm the error in the film review. There was no mention of Manisha in casting and she never appeared in the movie.

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Movie Review – how is it done?

Posted on by Raunak

I am not much sure about the Nepali viewers but, in India and Hollywood, viewers first read the reviews of newly released movies in newspapers or websites before going to theaters. The movie with good rating and reviews help in its promotion. That is one of the reasons review writers enjoy huge respect in the film industry. Many of the movie promos and advertisements also feature ratings and newspaper reviews. A review serves the viewers to spend their time and money wisely in the movie they prefer to watch.

Review writing is not an easy task. Before writing a review, the reviewer needs to know some basics of movies. Although, there aren’t any standards, rules or formula for review writing, some of the basic concepts. I once had a chance to chat with an Indian review writer, Taran Adarsh, of India Fm. I am indebted to Taran for the short and sweet tips on review writing.

I asked, “What are the necessary things to write movie review? And, what do you try to find on the movie when you go to watch?”

Taran replied, via email:

  • The first thing, the reviewer should have contacts with the film makers to ask how they have made the movie. They would give the information about how they are doing the publicity of the movie. The reviewers will also know the expectations of the film makers from their viewers. Knowing the history of the crew members might be unnecessary as the reviewer should be writing about the movie not about the crew members.
  • The second thing, the reviewer should watch the movie. While watching, the reviewer should judge if the movie fulfills its theme or not. The movie should have all those stuffs as said by promos and the crew members like directors.

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Flashback 2010 – Nepali movies, behind the scene

Posted on by Raunak

Articles in the Flashback 2010 series.

Nepali Film Directors

Simosh Sunuwar’s First Love was one of the most successful  in 2010. Although, the work of Alok Nembang on the movie Kohi Mero was appreciated by film critics and audience, the movie couldn’t do a good business. New director, Narayan Raymajhi and Sabir Shrestha were also appreciated by film critics and media for their works in Gorkha Paltan and Kasle Choryo Mero Mann respectively. Suraj Subba Nalbo’s work in the movie Bato Muni Ko Phul was also appreciated by the viewers and media. 

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