Five houses caught fire at a densely populated area of Tahanani, nearby Itumbahal in the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday evening (April 16, 2010). Nagariknews, one of the top newspaper in Nepal published the news about the fire. The media house publishes Nagarik (Nepali) and Republica (English) newspapers. The same news in the two newspapers have different news.
Republica says that the fire broke out from Prem Maharjan’s house but Nagariknews says it was Maharatna Maharjan. Republica says the fire was controlled in 2 hours but Nagarik says it took 4 hours to control the fire. I have posted the screenshot for comparison below. Continue reading
Measure of success of a movie can be different for different people. Some gauge the success on the revenue it brings to the producer and others measure it on the satisfaction it can give to the viewers. It is much easier to quantify the profit than the quality of movie.
In the above list, movies marked with * are recently released and actual statistics can’t be estimated.
‘Kaha Bhetiyala’, first movie of Shri Krishna Shrestha as a producer is considered best movie of the year 2066. Made in Rs. 8 million, the movie has already grossed Rs. 19 million and is expected to do more than a million business in coming days.
About one third of the movies released this year featured Biraj Bhatta. Out of 35 movies 14 had Biraj as actor. Rajesh Hamal came second with 9 movies in his credits. Nikhil Upreti did 8 movies.
Arjun Karki, Suman Singh, and Dilip Rayamajhi were average in the year. Shri Krishna Shrestha acted in only one, but most successful movie of the year, ‘Kaha Bhetiyala’ and is actually the best actor of the year.
The Nepali movie industry saw a bit of a relief as compared to the previous years in 2066 BS. The number of movies being produced was increased and those released in the year have done satisfactory business. Most of the movies did average business. Some of the high expected movies like ‘Kusume Rumal 2′ couldn’t do good business and some unexpected movies like ‘Eku’ took the stage and did better than average business in the year 2066.
Although there was quantitive increase in moves, qualitive increase couldn’t be seen with a few exception. Most of the movies had stories copied from some foreign movies. The extreme of which could be seen in the copy-cat posters.
Movies screened in 2066
According to the statistics of Nepal Cinema Development authority, the Censor Board has censored 42 Nepali movies including 29 celluloid and 13 digital ones. But, among those 42 movies only 27 have made it to the theater. Other 15 are in queue to get their chance to get slot in the cinema hall and will probably be screened in 2067.
Rekha Thapa has once again topped the list of most successful actress in Nepali cinema. In the past year she acted in 7 films, in which, three were successful, two were good enough, and two unsuccessful.
Nepali movie ‘Santaan’ is a new movie by the same named superhit movie ‘Santan’. Watch the original ‘Santan’ here. Actors Dilip Rayamajhi and Manika Sharma are featured as guest actors. The director, Raju Parajuli, has also written the script and lyrics in the movie.
Hindu organization in Nepal, Vishow Hindu Mahasangh, has asked the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu to stop screening of Rekha Thapa‘s movie ‘Hifajat’ (Letter attached below). In response, the CDO of Kathmandu, Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, has stopped the screening of the movie.
The film maker and other film professionals however have protested the CDO’s action.
They argued that the movie was being screened after receiving the government permission and after being passed by the censor board. By the order of the CDO, the police has removed the posters of the movie and stopped the screening at Puspanjali and Asthanarayan Cinema Halls in Kathmandu.
Our friends at MoviesNepal have rightly said that religion shouldn’t be brought in such a minor issue:
… Making a god on a fashion item doesn’t demand protest… बरॠउकà¥à¤¤ फिलà¥à¤®à¤•à¥‹ पोसà¥à¤Ÿà¤°, जसमा विदेशी पोसà¥à¤Ÿà¤°à¤•à¥‹ हà¥à¤¬à¤¹à¥ नकà¥à¤•à¤² गरिà¤à¤•à¥‹ छ, तेसà¥à¤•à¥‹ बिरोध हà¥à¤¨à¥ परà¥à¤›.
Rekha Thapa has worn a yellow dress with ‘Hare-Ram Hare-Krishna’ scripts in the song ‘Naran Naran …’ and a fight scene. The scenes of dance(03:05) and the fight scenes (00:30) can be seen in the following trailer. Continue reading
Many actors, musicians, and players are appointed brand ambassadors of various commercial products to increase their sales. These ambassadors usually are established personalities in their field and who potentially have charm and attraction to help in the success of the product they represent.
Pop singer Nima Rumba is brand ambassador of most number of commercial products (Yamaha Bike, Springwood, San Miguel Beer, Face lotion, Subisu, Coke Cola, Shakalaka Boom, Team Samsung and New Look Men’s Shaving Cream) and Sagarmatha area cleaning and maintenance ambassador.
Namrata Shrestha has been brand ambassador of Springwood, Sangrila Cricket Academy. It was rumored that she was stripped from being the brand ambassador of Springwood, but Namrata told that it was not true. She is also a brand ambassador of beach cricket being held on the Trishuli river beach on Kurintar.
This week three major movies are trying to lure viewers in Kathmandu. Roj Rana has two movies in market and Rekha Thapa has high hopes on her release "Hifajat". Roj Rana’s ‘Dosti’ is running in Bishow Jyoti and Ganga movie halls in third week and ‘Takkar Dui Mutuko’ is released on Friday. ‘Dosti’ is also being released in theaters outside the valley on Friday.
The Nepali year 2066 BS is going to finish on April 14, 2010. The year had a few ups and a lot of downs. I am compiling the top newsmakers of the year 2066. Writing the full list will take some time. I will update this page later and hopefully will finish before the year 2066 finishes.
1. Gyanendra Shah (Ex-King, wounded lion?)
Gyanendra (King of Nepal from 2001 to 2008) made news again at the end of the year by telling that the royalty is not dead yet. The political environment was heated and it started political debate on his statement.
2. Paramananda Jha (Hindi attachment)
Paramananda Jha came into controversy after he took the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi language. Paramananda Jha’s position as the Vice President has become defunct from 31 August 2009, with his refusal to take oath in Nepali. According to the Supreme Court’s verdict, Jha wasn’t allowed to perform any duties in capacity of the VP and wasn’t entitled to special security and privileges given to him as the VP. Jha was then in a situation where he has been elected as the VP by the parliament, but hasn’t taken oath.
After six months off duty, Vice President’s post was reactivated from February 7, 2010, after he took fresh oath of office and secrecy. This time, he took the oath both in Nepali and his mother tongue Maithali. Taking oath in mother tongue other than Nepali is permitted after a recent amendment in current Constitution letting President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ministers to take oath of office and secrecy in their respective mother tongues.
Rekha Thapa is promoting her latest movie ‘Hifajat’ these days. The movie is going to be released all over Nepal on this Friday (April 9, 2010). Her previous movies ‘Himmat‘ and ‘Kismat‘ did very good business and were hit movies and she is expecting ‘Hifajat’ to follow suit.
The movie ‘Hifazaat’ is produced by Chhabi Ojha, Rekha’s husband, and directed by Gyanendra Deuja. Although the movie features new lead actor Aayush Rijal and Aaryan Rekha Thapa is widely seen in the promo of the movie. In an interview with Nagariknews, Rekha told that she is senior to the actors and she has done more work in the movie so she is featured in the promo.
Comedy tele-serial ‘Meri Bassai‘ unit is to boycott the 2067 Tele Award as the popular television program is not included in the nomination of Best Comedy Serial award. The first television award ceremony to award television programs and artists of 38 different categories is going to be held on May 13, 2010.
The actors and director-duo of Meri Bassai, Sitaram Kattel (Dhurmus) and Kedar Ghimire (Magne Budha), organized a press conference to announce their dissatisfaction on Wednesday. Although the serial is not included in the nomination of the Best Comedy Serial, it is nominated in 8 other categories including best story, best script, best acting (male), best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best child actor, and best editing categories. The serials nominated for the Best Comedy Award are:
Manisha Koirala, a 40-year-old Bollywood super-star has finally decided to get married. Last month she told that she is planning to marry a Nepali and stay in Nepal. The lucky Nepali, Samrat Dahal, has recently returned from US after completing his study in alternative energy.
Samrat is son of Surendra Dahal, the owner of Leather Wings, a shoes company. Samrat is currently working in Nepal Credit and Commerce (NCC) Bank, Kathmandu.
According to The Himalayan Times, the marriage decision was made on Monday, April 5. According to the traditional ceremony, Swyambar will be done on Ashad 3 (June 17, 2010), Mehandi on Ashad 4, and marriage will be done on Ashad 5 (June 19 , 2010) (Nagariknews published the date as Ashad 19 i.e. July 3). The official announcement is yet to be made, hence there are conflicting dates in different news.
After being successful in the first week, ‘God Lives in the Himalayas’ (GLITH) is extended for the second week in Melbourne, Australia. World Theatrical Premiere of ‘God Lives in the Himalayas’ was done on 25th March, 2010 at the Greater Union Melbourne City Cinema, Australia.
According the the press release, the Hall is going to screen the movie till April 7, 2010. The movie will be shown for the third week if the movie can do half the business it did in the first week. The movie is planned to be screened in other cities in Australia in future. Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinemas in Brisbane will screen the movie from April 15. Beverly Hill Hall, Sydney will start screening the movie from May 6.
GLITH, based on child psychology, is directed by Sanjay Sriniwas. Various popular actors and actresses like Malvika Subba, Melina Manandhar, Dhiren Shakya, and Sunil Thapa have acted in the movie. Child actors Bijwol Giri (Siddharth), Sagun KC (Ali), Bob Karanjeet (Raju), and Sapna KC (Druki) are in the main role in the movie. English sub-titles are added in the movie to make it easier for the foreigners to understand it.
Absence of Sanchita Luitel and Nikhil Upreti in Kathmandu has caused delay in production of, at least, a couple of movies.
Sanchita hasn’t completed the dubbing of Nepali movie “Bandi†and the director of the movie Bijaya Kerung is looking for an alternative artist to do the dubbing for her role. Bijaya was planning to ask Niruta Singh to do the dubbing but it turned out that Niruta’s voice didn’t match the character.
It is told that Sanchita’s family has informed that she won’t return Nepal for the few more months. In Bandi, apart from Sanchita Arunima Luitel, Dilip Rayamajhi, and Suman Singh are in main role.
Similarly, absence of Nikhil has has halted the the shooting of another movie, “Kasamâ€. Director of Kasam Laxman Rijal told that he doesn’t know when Nikhil will return back. Everything except the scenes involving Nikhil has been completed and Laxman is waiting for Nikhil’s return.
