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.
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.
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. Continue reading
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.
10-15 seater microbus have been very popular in Kathmandu due to their fast and efficient service. It has almost replaced the local bus service and three wheelers in Kathmandu valley.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This year, chocolaty actor Aryan Sigdel and action hero Biraj Bhatta ruled the movies. Aryan was common in most of the digital format movies released this year. Those were the movies targeted to young generation. In most of the action movies, Biraj Bhatta was featured. This year, Rajesh Hamal was mostly featured in supporting actor role. Another super hit actor, Nikhil Upreti, was mostly talked about his affair with actress Sanchita Luitel rather than the roles he played in movies.
After the analysis of the movies released in 2010 (in Part 1 and Part 2), let’s look back to 2010 and analyze the works of actors and directors to see who were successful and who were unsuccessful in the Nepali film industry.
Nepali Actresses
With two hits movies and an appreciable performance on Bato Muni Ko Phul, Rekha Thapa is the front runner in the list of successful persons in Nepali movie industry in the year 2010. Rekha’s role in Hifajat, Kasle Choryo Mero Mann and Bato Muni Ko Phul were appreciated by the viewers. Her glamorous role in other movies couldn’t leave a long lasting impression in the viewers.
Tara Air flight gone missing – found crashed in Okhaldhunga
Dec 15, 2010 @ 18:41
UPDATE: The lost aircraft of Tara Air was found crashed at Kakanidanda, Okhaldhunga. All of the 22 passengers are reported to be dead in the crash.
Tara Air owned Twin Otter plane has gone missing since the last contact with the airport tower at 3:13 pm on Wednesday 15 December, 2010. The airplane was flying from Lamidanda to Kathmandu.
It has been reported that the flight lost contact five minutes after it took off from Lamidanda airport. The Twin Otter was carrying 22 passengers that included 18 Nepalese passengers, one foreigner and three crew members on board. Captain AR Shakya was in command of the flight.
The plane is reported still missing; however, two helicopters have already been sent to Khotang for the search of the missing Twin Otter. No further details have been reported on the plane.
Tara Air offers PC-6 flights for sky diving, special photography, high altitude mountain flights and rescue operations.
CPN-UML Leaders surprised by Nepal’s proposal
Dec 21, 2010 @ 16:56
Care taker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal proposed Ram Chandra Poudel be made the next prime minister of Nepal and end the caretaker status of current government. It was a matter of concern that the country cannot afford any more delay in forming new government added Nepal.
The proposal has come as a shocker to many political parties. Maoist’s leaders took the proposal lightly but Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal objected Nepal’s proposal and stated that it was very immature of Madhav Kumar Nepal to make such proposal without even consulting with the party.
“The proposal came from the current Prime Minister when we said that the new package agreements on peace process cannot be materialized under the current caretaker governmentâ€, said Maoist Vice President Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
The price of petroleum products will be subsidized
Dec 22, 2010 @ 16:55
The government is in the preparation of subsidizing the price of various petroleum products. The decision was made after a high level task force of the Ministry for Commerce and Supplies prepared a report recommending the subsidies after two rounds of talks. The talks held between representatives of various student unions and consumer forums.
The government is planning to subsidize Rs 300 per cylinder in cooking gas and Rs 50 per month per household in kerosene. In addition, Rs 1600 per year in diesel for farmers will also be subsidized.
If approved by the Council of Ministers, the new system will cost the government an extra Rs 3.5 billion. However, the government has not agreed the proposal; subsidizing the prices in petroleum products could force to cut down various development projects.
Bungy Jump closed on dispute with the local community
Dec 23, 2010 @ 03:56
Update: The Last Resort was officially open later yesterday. The agreement between the resort and the locals is not made public. Previously posted text follows:
If the talks with the locals doesn’t go well, we might see the last of the internationally popular bungee jump in Nepal. In a press release titled “Bungy Nepal and The Last Resort forced to shut down” the owner of the New Zealand-Nepali partnership adventure sports facility, The Last Resort, has told that the locals have forced to close the bungy bridge on Poush 6, 2067. The company says that the local community has claimed the ownership of the bridge and won’t let them do the business on it. (Full press release posted at the end of the article).
The Last Resort, founded in 1999, is located in Sindupalachowk near Barabise. The 160-meter high suspension bridge was constructed on top of steep Bhote Kosi River gorge for bungy jump purpose.
Now the local VDC official and leaders want the bridge to be handed over to them and the company use the facility in a lease agreement. But, the company says that they had build and paid for the bridge and can’t hand it over to the local people. If the local insist on taking over the bridge it will certainly prove to be a bad example for investors. Some argue, what will happen if people in Gorkha ask for the ownership of the Manakamana Cable Car or locals in Kulekhani ask for the ownership of the hydropower project over there.
The copy of the press release:
Case filed against Rubel Chowdhary
Dec 23, 2010 @ 15:45
A case has been filed against Rubel Chowdhary, son in law of Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala, in Supreme Court on Thursday. The case was filed against Chowdhary, a Bangladeshi national for involving in illegal activities such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service scam.
Chowdhary, not only was charged against the VoIP scam but also is accused of being involved with passport forgery case in Nepal.
Advocate Jayantra Bahadur Thakuri filed the summoned petition against Chowdhary. Meanwhile, Nepali Congress general secretary Mr. Prakash Man Singh spoke against Chowdhary saying that he is equally worth investigated over allegations of his involvement in
illegal acts. The law should be equally valid for everybody and it should apply to him (Chowdhary) as well if found guilty.
22-year-old student murdered in Capital – Colleagues at her workplace suspected
Dec 26, 2010 @ 05:16
A 22-year-old girl, who was pursuing her studies in Capital city, was murdered by none other than her own colleagues at her workplace. It has been reported that police have enough evidence to prove that her own colleagues have murdered her.
Sarala Thapa, a student at 12th grade was found stuffed in sack with multiple head injuries. That sack was found in Bishnumati River at Gongabu on Tuesday.
There were two main evidences that police found made them believe that the murder was none other than her own colleague at her workplace. The recovery of a piece of clothe from her workplace and an audio clip of a conversation between Thapa and Sahil Khan led the investigators to suspect the murderer of Thapa. The motive behind the murder by her colleagues however was not clear. Police have arrested Sahil Khan, Alam Khan and Angila Thapa as suspects for Sarala Thapa’s murderer.
CA Member killed in road accident
Dec 27, 2010 @ 03:45
CPN-UML Constituent Assembly member Dambar Bahadur Khadka was killed in an accident that took place in Bhaktapur district on Saturday night at around 8:30 pm. He was riding on the motorbike when a passenger bus hit the motorbike at Kaushaltar. Police have arrested the bus driver.
Dambar Bahadur Khadka was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Shankhwasabha Constituency No. 2.
Nepali Girls saved from traffickers in Goa
Dec 27, 2010 @ 17:09
Three Nepali girls, including one minor, were rescued from the traffickers in Goa on Saturday, 25 December, 2010.
According to police in Goa, among three of the Nepali girls, one was minor, who were promised by the traffickers to get job at casino as dancers. However, the three victims were pushed into prostitution later. Thankfully, the girls were lucky on Christmas day to be rescued; they were taken to the state protective on the same day.
Two persons were arrested for trafficking Nepali girls in Goa. They have been identified as Nandisha gowda, 25 from Bangalore and Hanumant Patel, 25 from Rajasthan. Both will be booked under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act and Goa Children’s Act for trafficking the girls, including minor.
A baby born with two heads
Dec 29, 2010 @ 03:38
A mother from Dailekh district VDC-9 has gave birth to a child with two heads. Bishnukala Nepali, 37, gave birth to a female child having two heads on the way to the local Balekanda sub health post on Sunday afternoon.
The detailed report on this is still being awaited. No details on this have been reported.
At least three injured in Bomb Blast
Dec 31, 2010 @ 03:59
At least three people were injured in a bomb blast that took place near a hardware store in Surkhet road in Nepalgunj. The three people that were injured in the blast have been identified as Kausal Acharya, Yubraj Chalise and Dilli Regmi. The injured people have been admitted to Bheri Zonal Hospital for treatment.
All the shops were closed following the blast in the city. No further on who may have been involved in the blast has been so far reported.
