Cast: Saugat Malla, Priyanka Karki, Anup Baral, Sauram Raj Tuladhar, Nabin Manandhar, A. Gurung and Vijay Lama
Director: Suraj Sunuwar

Nepali movie: ‘Sadanga’ is yet another movie based on gangsters, rivalry, betrayal, greed and lust. Directed by Suraj Sunuwar, Sadanga is movie of neo-noir flavour featuring Saugat Malla as Kalu in the lead role. The movie also features Sauram Raj Tuladhar, Priyanka Karki, Anup Baral, Nabin Manandhar, A. Gurung and Vijay Lama.

As they said, people are evil. They seek power and for what they forget their ethics. But why do people seek power? Is it because they want huge money? Or is it to be able to have great influence or control over others? Some even consider money as power because you can buy almost whatever thing with money. So that makes people obsessed with money and money is the root of countless crimes. In the race to become the most powerful person, many join gangster life or politics. Suraj Sunuwar’s Sadanga attempts to illustrate the current scenario by presenting the dependency between politician and goons, rivalries between dons and connection between police force and the goons.

“Taa pani kaalo, ma pani kaalo, herchu sala kasko paila marne Paalo”

Sadanga is possibly the finest gangster movie made in Nepali till date. The movie is full of lively dialogues and pleasurable wits. The script is not the greatest, but at no point is there an issue of diffuse focus, or of misplaced importance. The cinematography is excellent. The only song in the movie has not failed to impress and background score is ideal. It’s a very unique concept that managed to cease perfectly. The issue I have with this movie is for that last person who took away everything. Another thing is, Kalu don had only one friend along with him from start to finish. The biggest don of the city seems little unsecured with no friends or bodyguards with him most of the time.

The performances, across the board, are magnificent, with special credit to be paid to none other than Saugat Malla. Malla’s performance was out of this world. He is in the league of his own. I had a huge respect for this guy, and now that respect has grown even bigger. A. Gurung as Gore Don was another strong character in the movie that was witty and amusing. In particular, his explanation about the dance bar girl to Bhalu don was hilarious. As for Sauram Raj Tuladhar, his performance was cheesy and did not blend quite well, and his physical movements deliberately lack precision. The only good thing he can take from the movie is that forceful kiss with Priyanka.

Plot:
Saugat Malla as Kalu is the most important character of the movie. He seeks to become the most powerful person of the country, even above Raja. Raja is the most powerful and richest man in the city, with a beautiful, sexy and seductive girlfriend. Kalu works for Raja with his casanova friend, Vicky. There is another rival don in the city, named Bhalu who is not afraid to tussle with Kalu. Things get complicated when Vicky starts secret affair with the girlfriend of Raja. So, what happens next is a mystery and you need to watch the movie for that.

Watch or Not?
For a Nepali movie lover, it’s a must watch.

Official Trailer of Sadanga:

Cast: Aryan Sigdel, Keki Adhikari, Gajit Bista, Sushma Shahi, Mithila Sharma, Vijay Lama, Deshbhakta Khanal, Surbir Pandit, Laxmi Giri, Rashmi Bhatta
Director: Sajan Shrestha

Punarjanma is a story of two army officers who were close friends. The movie is directed by Sajan Shrestha and stars Aryan Sigdel and Gajit Bista as army officers. The picture also features Keki Adhikari opposite Gajit Bista and Susmita Shahi opposite Aryan Sigdel.

When a person dies in Nepal, we have a ritual called ‘Shradda’ on 13th day in memory of a dead person. Wikipedia has more information about Shradda here. But what if the person comes alive after ‘Shradda’ is complete? I think that would be the most shocking moment. Yes, it can happen, mostly when the person is in the army or police force. So, when this happens, we have a very interesting ritual called ‘Punarjanma’ that many of us are unaware of. The guy who’s Shradda is completed is not allowed to enter the house. He has to take ‘punarjanma’ or reincarnate again, then complete the rituals ‘nwaran’ and ‘bratabandha’ before he can marry his widowed wife again. That’s pretty remarkable.

The first half of the movie was slow with very less amusement and second half of the movie seemed more like a documentary. Background score was too loud on a few occasions. For instance, when Amar and Aman asked their senior for sickness leave, background music was too loud and made it difficult to hear what their senior said. Another thing I felt that they showed too much of army trainings. It seemed like they were having problem to cross the length of two hours. Also, when the armies were training, the background music was like big war was going on. Besides these, I have nothing to say about the cinema. I was expecting some entertainment, but the picture instead provided information about the possibly extinct ritual of our country, which is not bad either. I loved the conversations between Amar (Aryan Sigdel) and Maya (Susmita Shahi) in their first night of marriage. The script of the movie was average and the screenplay was not better.

Plot:
Amar (Aryan Sidgel) and Aman (Gajit Bista) are two very close friends in an army. Aman first meets Rupa (Keki Adhikari) in front of the Shrepa mall of Kathmandu and falls in love with her. Aman asks his mother (Mithila Sharma) that he loves her. But when Aman and his mom ask Rupa’s father for her hand, he rejects. So Aman and Rupa decides for court marriage. On the other hand, Amar marries with Maya (Susmita Shahi) who was the girl he loved. After marriage, both of them had to fight in a clash with terrorist groups. In this brawl, Amar dies. So, Amar’s family follows all their rituals done after a person died. But after few days Amar returns home. It was not Amar who died, but instead Aman was the one who died. Probably the message was delivered incorrectly. So Aman had to undergo ‘Punarjanma’ rituals before he can marry his own wife again.

Watch or Not?
If you want to gain knowledge about our ancient ritual ‘Punarjanma’, then you should probably watch this movie. Otherwise, there is no reason to watch this movie.