State Of Film Industry In Nepal

INTRODUCTION
Filmmaking in Nepal started in 1962. In 1974, a board was formed for the development of film industry called as Royal Nepal Film Corporation. Between the year 1964-1971 three propaganda films were produced. In 1990, there was a political drastic change. Within 3 years of time, 150 films were made. Distribution were increased. Market shares reached to its peak. Cinema halls were increased. Post 1990, film industry expanded. If before 1990 1-10 films were made per year the number of films were 50 per year in post 1990’s.
The first ever film made in Nepal was a documentary during the period of king Mahendra ( Panchayat System ). King Mahendra invited Hari Singh Khatri from bollywood. He made a documentary about 42nd birthday of His Majesty King. The film in Nepali language was made from India in 1950. It was named Satya Harischand and directed by D.B Pariyar. The first nepali film from Nepal was “Aama”.

PROBLEMS
No matter the films in Nepal had flourished since the Panchayat rule, its present condition is no satisfactory. It faces so many problems. Time and again voices are raised against the state of film industry of Nepal. The main problem stands in the quality of films. The films are of very low quality and even the cine environment is less satisfactory. There is a lack of modern technology, sound systems and cinema scopes technique make poor quality. Using 16mm format and blowing it up later to 35mm for public viewing reduces the quality of projection image. The quantity has fallen to ground. The problem stands not only in the films but also in the cinema halls. Cinema halls only screen hindi movies as it is profitable. The number of films produced is 10-15 per year. There is no print rental system in Nepal. Prints for hindi movies are priced according to the actors and the pre-release hype, and cost and average of Rs. 50,000 per week. With the rise of pirated movies and the spread of cable TV, people watch new movies at home. Hall owners never really cared about Nepali films. They are just after money. At present, there are hundreds of cinema halls. Out of them 11 are permanent, 38 are temporary and the rest are mobile. Producers are losing money and some are bankrupt. The showcase of intimate scenes seems to be pathetic. At times, it looks more like comedy. The discomfort between the actors and actresses can be easily predicted. The question arises if the priority should be given to length, format or story. The film board comments that format is important but viewer wants story more than the format. Hence, there is a dilemma between the format and the story.

Some of the good movies listed in the history of film industry are Satya Harishchand, Maitighar, Prempinda, Numafung, Mukundo, Sano Sansar and so on.

THE PRESENT SITUATION
Good films collected an average of 18-20 lacs and super hit ones collected even 80-90 lacs then but now it hardly collects 3 lacs from valley. The concern is the quantity of films. The number of films released has decreased. The lack of films and songs has affected FM radios also. FM’s have started playing five songs out of 10 in chartbusters. The number of films registered had fallen too. The industry has been incurring a loss for the last three years. The maximum profit a film can generate is upto Rs. 10,000,000.
In order to strengthen all aspects of the industry government had created a body Film Development Board on 30th June, 2000. It is responsible for managing its expenses and investment from the collection of development tax, which is included in the price of movie tickets. The government exempts Nepali cinema from the development tax which is only collected from foreign language films. If films remain as it is now and do not work on it further then there may come a time when people will say “Once upon a time there were Nepali movies.”