Five types of Nepali movies (with links to example movies)

A friend in Twitter, Rakesh, has categorized the Nepali movies in four different  types. Although the categorization is done very loosely and the boundary of this categorization is extremely blurry, such a categorization can give a rough guide on what a particular movie is like. I think, there is room for improvement in this categorization so that one can easily decide on whether to watch the movie or not. There is a possibility that some movies might fall in more than one category. Let’s review each category in detail with examples.

  1. Masala Nepali movies
  2. New Age Nepali movies
  3. Nepali movies for youth
  4. B and C Grade Nepali movies
  5. Historical and Art Nepali movies

Video presentation:

Masala Nepali movies

Masala Nepali movies contain all the different entertaining aspects of movies. They are the mix of comedy, family drama, action, music and love all stuffed in a movie to appeal all types of viewers. They might contain all these ingredients (masala) or some of them. These types of movies are less risky and hence, the established film producers prefer to go with these type of movies.

The viewers of Masala Nepali movies are usually the viewers of single-screen theaters. The viewers watch these movies for the entertainment in the duration of the movie.  The artists featured in such type of movies are Rajesh Hamal, Rekha Thapa, Nikhil Upreti and so on. Most of Shovit Basnet‘s movies, Bhuwan KC‘s movies, Rekha Thapa’s movies Chhabi Raj Ojha‘s movies fall in this category.

Some of the Masala movies of the past few years are:

New Age Nepali movies

These movies are usually produced by new producers experimenting in new concepts and targeting a specific category of viewers. Although these movies are commercial in nature, they prefer to cater the educated viewers. The actors featured in such movies include Saugat Malla, Dayahang Rai, Richa Sharma, Nischal Basnet etc. These actors are either have theater background or are trained in theater environment. Aryan Sigdel, Priyanka Karki and Namrata Shrestha‘s movies can also be included in this category.

Some of the successful new-age Nepali movies of the past few years:

Youth Nepali movies

These movie are targeted to the school and college youths. They feature the issues of youth like love, society and family problem. The start and end in short time frame of the character’s life. The movies feature the second generation actors in Nepali film industry – Anmol KC,  Salon Basnet, Samyam Puri, Rista Basnet, Aanna Sharma etc.

Some of the successful youth movies in Nepali film industry include:

B and C grade Nepali movies

There had been a flood of sex themed movies in the immediate past but, when they failed to succeed as expected, making of such movies have diminished these days. The first movie to be provided ‘A’ certificate by the Censor Board was ‘Palpalma’. The movie was successful and promoted the maker to make another movie in similar theme – ‘Kina Kina’. Another successful movie in B and C grade category was ‘Chapali Height’. The movie ‘ATM ‘ and ‘Ringroad’ are considered the extremes in terms of vulgarity.

Some of the well known B and C grade movies are:

Historical and Art Movies

The movies based on historical events and personality are of more artistic value than commercial value. Some movies of this nature include ‘Seto Bagh’, ‘Bhimdutta’, ‘Jhola’, ‘Dashdhunga’ and so on. The actor/director Nir Shah is known to prefer historical movies, director Manoj Pandit has also directed some historical movies.

Art movies are also focused more on art than the commercial aspect. These movies participate in national and international film festival and appear certain type of viewers. Some of the art movies include ‘Soongava’, ‘Muna Madan’, ‘Sunpani’.

Some of the movies that can fall in Historic and Art category are:

Apart from these categories many other types of movies can be placed in one or more of the above categories. For example, horror movies can be artistic, new-age or masala type of movies. Similarly, action and sports movies can also fall in any of the above categories.

Please suggest the improvement in this categorization.

Following tweet was the inspiration behind this post, thank you Rakesh:

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