Chapali height” (watch Chapali Height here) got a good media coverage both before and after release. That was partly because of different controversies the movie was involved in before it was released, and ‘sexual psychology’ highlighted in it’s promotion. Although some have questioned the validity of the claims of its producer that ‘Chapali Height‘ has collected 50 lakhs in a single day, the publicity and viewers in theaters show it should have had a decent opening. But, one can expect the initial response to fade in lights of negative reviews it is getting from critics and viewers.
Now, the question arises – is the movie getting negative review from viewers just because it has got sexual contents?
”
‘Chapali Height‘ compares well with a previous similar movie ‘Pal Pal Ma‘ released about two years ago. The movie ‘Pal Pal Ma‘ had also got an adult certificate from the censor board and it was publicized as the first Nepali movie to get an adult certificate. The ‘A’ certificate itself proved to be a tool of good publicity, and a good business as well. But, in essence, ‘Pal Pal Ma‘ had nothing to win the hearts of its viewers and virtually nobody appreciated it as a movie. In the movie, the topic of sex was only used for publicity and it was used in a vulgar way. (watch Palpalma here)
I think, history is repeating in case of ‘Chapali Height‘ too. In the case of both movies, small group of people liked the movie and the majority didn’t.
Film Development Board of Nepal has unveiled a 10-point-document outlining its rules and regulation for the development of movie making in Nepal. The rules were distributed to the journalists in a press meet organized on Monday, March 12, 2012.
Note: Following is unofficial translation of Nepali text (attached below)
About Film Development Board being autonomous– A law will soon be passed to ensure the Board to be more powerful and functional.
About national film festival – National film festival to be held in Surkhet of Mid-Western region within the month of Chaitra.
About international film festival – An international film festival will be held in June 1, 2012.
About film censorship in the hall of the Board – Movies are being censored in the Board’s new movie theatre. The hall rental for Nepali movie is fixed at Rs. 1000 and for foreign movie, it is Rs. 3000.
About delegation of responsibility to the Board – The Ministry of Information and Communication has authorized the Board to determine movie show times in film halls. No movie hall is allowed to have a morning shows before 11:00 AM except for Saturday.
Networking for Box Office report and organized business practice – The Board will require every Nepali and foreign films to submit their income and progress report.
Management of production, re-production, sale and distribution of copyright of film and film related materials – Following are the regulations;
The companies producing CD, DVD, VCD, VHS should obtain the production license for each of those films from the Film Development Board.
Each CD, DVD, VCD, VHS should contain the hologram provided by the Film Development Board.
If such materials are produced by the ones authorized by the Board, such companies will be punished according to Copyright Act 2059.
The retailers and rentals of movies should get a 5-year license to sell or rent movies. They should renew the license every 5 years.
To make movie sector more reliable – The Board is planning to require movie makers to deposit some amount of money with the Board that will be released after the movie is censored.
Classification of cinema halls – The board has expanded the classification of cinema halls in addition to Video and Colloid. The classification is pending approval of the ministry.
On ethics of film producers, hall owner, distributors, and artists – The board will release the ethics of all involved in film making in future.
Actor Bhuwan KC is known for creating controversies at the time of the release of his movies. His divorce rumors, love affairs, family history and stuffs like that surface at the time of movie releases.
UPDATE – 2016:
Simpal Khanal married a UK resident businessman of Pakistani origin. Rekha has legally divorced in August of 2016. Shayam Bhattarai has also gone to the USA (I don’t have any information if Shyam has met Ranjana Sharma there).
2012 – Actress Priyanka Karki‘s marriage with Rochak Mainali didn’t last more that two years. The Miss Teen 2005 revealed about the divorce in 2013, after a year of the event (more about Rochak and Priyanka’s divorce).
Saranga Shrestha – Saranga married a US citizen and divorced. She is currently married to a young Nepali guy, Ramesh, living in the USA. Saranga and Ramesh have a daughter.
** Original article continues**
Divorce in Nepali movie sector has become a common happening these days. Divorce brings in pain and problems and doesn’t come easy for both the parties involved. The traditional Nepali society has made it even worse in terms of setting a ‘bad example’ in the society.
Let’s analyze some of the high profile problems in marriages of the personalities of Nepali movie industry:
Bhuwan KC / Sushmita KC – Bhuwan KC is known for his affairs with various ladies. Bhuwan KC’s first marriage with Bijaya KC ended when Bijaya went to USA with their kids. Bhuwan found Sushmita KC as his second wife. That too didn’t lasted long and they ‘divorced’ until they reunited again after the release of “Ma Timi Bina Marihalchu”. But, they have divorced again. Bhuwan’s affair with Sharmila Dangol didn’t go far and he is living alone these days. We won’t be surprised if Bhuwan and Sushmita get together after the release of ‘Sathi Ma Timro’ as predicted by friends in Films Nepal. (update- they didn’t get together, but there is rumor that Bhuwan is having an affair with Jiya KC)
A news about a Nepali actor, Shri Krishna Shrestha, starting a business named “Kollywood Planet” left me thinking – is the Nepali movie industry Kollywood?
Although, Shri Krishna Shrestha’s business doesn’t seem much related to the Nepali movie industry, I have a feeling, he does want to represent the Nepali film industry. The name, Kollywood, seems to be inspired by the combination of Kathmandu and Hollywood. But, when I checked the name in Google, there was no reference of Kollywood being related to Nepali (or Kathmandu) film industry, at least, not on the first page.
That means, either we have to forget about the name “Kollywood” to represent our movie industry or, make it more popular by using it more frequently. In this context, let us review what Hollywood is and, what names are inspired by Hollywood:
In the modern time, Hollywood has become an iconic name to represent the US movie industry. The success of Hollywood movies has inspired other film industries to nickname themselves with Hollywood-inspired names.
Hollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, United States (yes, it’s not a movie industry in itself, as believed popularly). The place situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles, got it’s cultural identity as the center of movie studios and movie stars when movie making activities increased in the early 20th century.
2017 Update: Prachanda’s son, Prakash Dahal has also died on November 19, 2017. In the mean time, Prachanda has also lost a daughter to cancer. I have prepared a video report on the death of his immediate family members in the time of peace.
The response to the death of Prakash is mixed. A lot of people who had been affected by the Maoist civil war have told that, Prachanda is punished for is bad deeds. Others believe that the deceased soul shouldn’t be debated on and we should wish it to rest in peace. But, people’s thoughts and beliefs can’t be changed easily. So, I believe it is good to have our own views but, we can’t instruct others on behaving according to our choice. As long as it is not illegal and punishable, people should be free to express their opinion.
Original post continues:
After being seriously ill for some time, the father of ex-prime minister and chairman of UNCP (Maoist), Puspa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), Mukti Ram Dahal, has died on October 8, 2011. Mukti Nath Dahal was 84 years old. Muktinath’s wife and Prachanda’s mother, Bhawani Dahal, had died of cancer in 1995.
Our heartfelt condolence to the deceased soul and sympathy to the mourning Dahal family.
Nepali Language has evolved from Sanskrit. Initially, Nepali language was termed as “Gorkhali” or “Khas” language but the king Prithivi Narayan Shah united the country, it got its name Nepali.
The oldest evidence found written in Nepali Language is Ashok Chilla’s bronze plate, carved in 1321 B.S. The oldest book written in Nepali language found to date is ‘Khanda Khadya‘ (1642). The writer of the book however is not known.
Other ancient books without their author’s name are ‘Swasthani Bharatkatha’ written sometime in 1658 BS and ‘Baj Parikxya‘ written sometime in 1700. The oldest known writer of Nepali books is Prem Nidhi Pant. Two of his books ‘Jwarup Pati Chikitsha‘ written in 1773 BS and ‘Prayashit Predi’ were both translation from Sanskrit books.
Dr. Tara Nath Sharma, has divided the history of Nepali Literature into 5 different eras:
Pre Bhanu Bhakta Era (from beginning to 1871 B.S.)
Mustang is the first and the only one vehicle assembled in Nepal. It is told that, most of the parts of the vehicle are imported from India and it is one of the cheapest vehicle available in Nepal.
Baburam’s choice of vehicle has been praised by everybody and this movie will surely skyrocket the sales of the vehicle in Nepal. If the producers can keep it’s reliability high enough, it will be successful in capturing the Nepali market.
A cartoon speaks volume! It lighten-up the mood, helps to make fun of some serious matter and brings smile in your face.
The creator however remains in the background and won’t be visible to the general public. So, here is the “Phalano guy” with his cartoon character looking at the cartoon Rajesh is making:
I thought, it can only happen in Nepali movies, – a low grade trick to copy the idea from other movies’ posters to design their posters. But, I am proved wrong!
Big banner Bollywood movie Murder 2 did the same – not in one but two of its posters. The sequel to the 2004 superhit film Murder, Murder 2 is told to be a Bollywood erotic thriller film.
Nepal Telecommunication Authority has implemented new guidelines which requires ID card to be presented to surf internet. The cybercafes in Nepal should start taking records of their customers within three months (before Dashain festival).
The record should include:
Identification card (Nepali), or Passport (foreigners)
Name address
Entry time
Duration of Internet surfing
The computer used
Let’s analyze why it won’t work:
1. Privacy – opens a black market to sell personal information
The cybercafe can sell such personal information to make easy cash.
2. Criminals don’t need to record everything
Suppose I am a cyber criminal. I will go to one of the cybercafe and make a deal, to pay Rs. 100 per hour (if regular price is Rs. 20 per hour) if they don’t record my personal information. The guy will make eno
ugh profit to bribe any police officer if they happen to find about the incident.
3. Software and logistics
I am sure the government will not provide the software and other logistics to record such details. The owner of cybercafe will need to invest extra in hardware and manpower. The extra cost doesn’t motivate the owners to keep the record. Most of them will try to fake the record.
The government doesn’t know how to deal with internet. They have failed to control VOIP and sex websites. This is another example of short-slightness of our government.
Yes, there are a lot of of other reasons the new regulation won’t work. Please comment what you think in the comment section. (Photos collected from various online sources)
Here are some of the posts I had written about Nepal Government’s previous unsuccessful attempts to block websites:
(Condolence to Mira Acharya, wife of comedian Hari Bansha Acharya – she died today, initial days of 2068)
New Relationships:
The most popular marriage this year was that of Manisha Koirala with businessman Samrat Dahal. Choreographer Dinesh Adhikari also got married last year. A new movie producer J B Ghising also got married with singer Lata Yonjan. Singer/actor Prashant Tamang also got married this year.
It is a different story of the marriage between Nikhil Upreti and Sanchita Luitel while Nikhil hasn’t divorced with his other wife, Kopila Upreti.
UPDATE: The threat materialized on the Friday’s edition of Kantipur. Although the photo of the Twitter user is not used, they have published the name and designation of another Twitter user. They even went ahead to complain the boss of the KETO (means – “little boy” in Nepali).
Original post:
Oh My God… this is unthinkable! And, it is happening in Nepal!
The journalists of one of the leading publication in Nepal, Kantipur were threatening one of the Twitter users – telling:
“We are going to publish your name/photo in story along w/ur death-threat..” (Let’s make a deal otherwise) “.. respond to our question…”.
And the “death threat” reads – “if *** were in front of me he would have been the second one to die.” (Attached below)
Does a death threat starts with an “IF” ?
Now, we need to understand the pretext before jumping into conclusion. Why Prabhat had to be so angry in the first place. He wrote an article in aakarpost saying (translation):
I had always asked them not to publish my Twitter post. They acted as if their 1 million readers won’t buy their newspaper if my Tweet are not published. Then, when I asked the reason for such an action, they ignored me. When I got angry they came back to threaten me.
The issue of people being unhappy of the publication of Twitter post was being debated for some time. It was everybody’s relief that, the week before they even told that – only Twitter posts mentioning @HelloShukrabar will be publish (see the unhonored announcement below).
In sharp contrast to their own announcement, the publication came as a surprise with purely personal and useless collection of twitter post (a copy at the end). The result:
@nepaldiary – got fired due to the publication of his post in Kantipur daily. Please refer his comment in this post.
@PR4BH4T – was threatened and forced to quit Twitter (link posted above)
@webg0ru – got fed up and left Twitter based on the behavior of the journalists
@nepaleeidiot – left Twitter feeling awkward
@schwafnil – left Twitter, saying “I don’t hold the responsibility of clarifying anyone of my thoughts or motives behind publishing a certain tweet.”
In response to the job loss of @nepaldiary, because of the Twitter post published in Kantipur, the journalists have quoted a proverb sounding like “you got what you deserve.”
@nepaleeidiot’s response before leaving Twitter:
After all these events, our journalists are feeling the proudness of winning the debate – teaching the “incompetents” the lesson.
#tweetdebate is also to be blamed
I think, it was a mistake to choose the title of the debate – “Sneaking Journalism”. That title itself gave negative message to the journalist and they started taking the “defensive stance”. The logic couldn’t penetrate the defensive shield and hence the debate turned out to be one-sided.
Background
The Twitter section in Friday edition of Kantipur daily when Bryan Adams performed the concert in Kathmandu. The Twitter post was really nice and to the point. It was nice to read and feel good about it. But, what followed was the disaster. Here is the recent publication that was the cause of all this out roar:
This is the third post I have written about publication of Twitter in a National Daily (hoping this to be the last). Previous posts were:
The disclaimer: This is my personal view and I don’t necessarily endorse all the views of the linked articles. I don’t know anybody involved, in person, and I don’t have anything against the journalist or the Twitter posters.
