Cast: B.S. Rana, Shyam Rai, Rabi Giri, Pawan Mainali, Rajaram Poudyal
Director: Nir Shah

‘Seto Bagh’ is a historical movie based on the final days of Jung Bahadur Rana and is inspired by famous novel ‘Seto Bagh’ of Diamond Shamsher. The movie is directed by legendary actor and director Nir Shah and casts BS Rana, Shyam Rai, Rabi Giri, Pawan Mainali and Rajaram Poudyal in the lead role.

It is said that, Jung Bahadur Rana (the initiator of the 104 years long Rana rule in Nepal) saw a white tiger on one of his hunting trips in the Terai. But a white tiger has never been found in Nepali forests, and most attribute this mythical tale as being an illusion that Jung Bahadur saw. He was an old man by then and his eyes were blurred. The moment signifies the end of Jung Bahadur’s rule. ‘Seto Bagh’ attempts to illustrate the fratricide and patricide in the tussle over the throne after the death of Jung Bahadur Shah.

Since my childhood, history has been a boring subject for me. I could never get along well with history. Sadly, Nir Shah’s Seto Bagh could not make it any better. There are too many characters and too much confusions. I was suffocating to remember all those characters. That’s clearly poor presentation and screenplay. First half of the movie was too dull, monotonous a excessively confusing. In the break, I helped myself with a cup of coffee so that I can stay awake. The second half was less boring and a little more informative. Frankly, I enjoyed the advertisements in the break more than the movie. For the most part, it was more like an image slideshow than motion picture.

Most of the actors couldn’t produce best out of their characters. Few actors who performed well were Rajaram Poudel and Rabi Giri. As for others, they were less efficient and lacked any enthusiasm. The movie has good cinematography and editing is not bad either. Background score was average.

Plot
The movie is based on the last few days of Jung Bahadur Rana as Rana Prime Minister and the incidents after his death. It attempts to illustrate the fratricide and patricide in the tussle over the throne after the death of Jung Bahadur Shah.

Watch or not?
Since the movie is based on history, you may like it if you are a student of history or you already have knowledge of Rana reign. For normal person, it’s too much confusing and lacks any kind of thrills.

Cast: Shilpa Pokhrel, Kishor Khatiwoda, Sabin Shrestha, Suleman Shankar (Ikku), Deshbhakta Khanal, Sarita Lamichhane(Special Appearance)
Director: Rishi Lamichane

‘Hawaldar Suntali’ is a journey of female police constable, Suntali who was sexually violated by her senior officers. After Lajja, this is another Chhabiraj Production featuring Shilpa Pokhrel in the lead role. The movie made on the real story of police officer Suntali Dhami. Directed by famous director Rishi Lamichhane, it also features Kishor Khatiwoda and Sabin Shrestha.

Police constable Dhami had filed a case against her six colleagues accusing them of gang raping her on the day of Vijaya Dashami on September 27, 2009. They were arrested on October 7, 2009 and a case of rape was filed against three of them, now convicted, on November 2, 2009 after being suspended a day earlier. Three other accused Sub-Inspector Dan Singh Bhandari, head constable Biradutta Badu and constable Naribhan Mahatara were released on November 1 saying they were innocent. Single Bench of District Court Judge Prakash Kharel convicted head constables Birendra Bam and Karbir Thalal and constable Jagadish Pandey. Bam has been sentenced to six years in jail and fined Rs 100,000 while Thalal and Pandey have been sentenced to three years in jail. Based on this event, ‘Hawaldar Suntali’ attempts to portray a similar story of sexual violence against female police officers by their senior officers.

‘Hawaldar Suntali’ is an action packed movie with a good script, but the presentation isn’t quite gratifying. However, I do appreciate the maker’s attempt to choose a matter that presents the immorality within those who have taken vows to protect the society. It’s a very sensitive matter, but they failed to produce enough spark out of it. Also a lot of events in the movie don’t make any sense. For instance, when Nisha talks with dying Suntali in a hospital, I had no idea where that diary popped out from. Suntali was in her sari and it was clear that she was not holding it when she was harmed. At the climax, when the Superintendent of Police (S.P) ran away from court, nobody body was there to take him under control. Only Suntali had to chase him? That didn’t look much obvious.

The songs are very well choreographed and some way it did help in advancing the story. Editing was flawed. It was visible when Suntali was killed by ‘Khukuri’ was blood was to spread out of her stomach. All the flaws aside, the performance of each actor was good. Silpa Pokhrel in particular was incredibly confident in the double role of a bold orphan girl and a police officer.

Plot:
Nisha (Shilpa Pokhrel) is a grown-up orphan girl who has taken responsibility of looking after few orphan children. To look after those children, she is involved in many robberies and pickpocket. She is cunning and strong. Suntali is junior police officer and is also a duplicate of Nisha. When Suntali is raped by her senior officers, her fiancée Bhim attempts to punish them but instead he was murdered. So, Suntali takes a vow to punish them. But as she reaches Kathmandu, she was murdered. Before she died, Suntali finds Nisha and asks her for help. Knowing all the story of Suntali, Nisha promises to take revenge for her.

Watch or Not?
‘Hawaldar Suntali’ has some eye popping action and wonderful songs. Also the script is not bad. But as I mentioned earlier, this is not one of those flawless movie. So, all I can say is watch at your own risk.

Cast: Anuvab Regmi, Priyanka Karki, Aryan Sigdel, Suraj Singh Thakuri, Sanchita Luitel, Garima Panta (Special Appearance)
Direction: Muskan Dhakal

Nai Nabhannu La 3 is a musical journey of a young boy, Rhythm and his bond with her mother. After the massive success of Nai Nabhannu La 2, this was one of the most awaited movie of the year. Directed by Muskan Dhakal, it features Anuvab Regmi, Priyanka Karki, Aryan Sigdel and Suraj Singh Thakuri in the lead role. The movie also features Sanchita Luitel and Garima Panta in special appearance.

If you ask me the importance of a mother for a child, it would be the easiest question for any fool to answer. I think the importance is priceless because a mother’s role is not just giving birth to a child, but also to raise them until they finally become a man / woman who can stand in their own feet and do something for himself and/or his family. Most important of all are the sacrifices that she makes to make her child happy. However, some do not have the luck of enjoying the warmth of their mother, but still few among them are lucky enough to get the mother’s love instead. Nai Nabhannu La 3 attempts to portray the affection between a mother and her adopted son. Besides the adopted son, the story also revolves round the guy she loves and a crazy guy that loves her madly.

“Bihe bhayeko chha chhora mai ho, bihe bhayeko chhaina gharma bau chhaina!”

First of all, I love to watch Nepali movies with good cinematography. Camera work and photography are the first impression for any movie that engages you and it was wonderful. Nai Nabhannu La 3 is has an average script, yet it has effectively offered the bond between mother and her son. The first half of the movie was excellent with a good balance between wit and story development. Second half of the movie was very emotional. but at a few occasions, it looked a bit over elaborated and some of the songs could have been removed. For instance, the romance of Samyam Puri and her girlfriend was spoiling the core story. Okay, I got that his presence was important for the script to carry on, but that song ‘Alikatti bold…’ for Samyam Puri was uninviting. Another thing about the movie that I can disagree about is how easily Anuvab learned playing guitar. It looked impossible. The Guitar is probably the most difficult instrument to learn. Had it been some other instruments like Madal or Tabala, I would have agreed. Finally the climax was too predictable. Bringing all the characters to the same place in the climax is the classic way of ending most of Desi movies. That said the work of the director and the crew was creditable.

As far as the performances are concerned, it’s a child actor, Anuvab Regmi who leads the film right from the word go. For a child actor, he has everything it takes to be a superstar in the future. Priyanka was fantastic and Aryan Sigdel was exceptional. His body language and facial expressions were charismatic and helped a lot to get the first half of the movie engaging. All the other actors were good too.

Plot:
Kusum (Priyanka Karki) is living with her adopted son, Rhythm (Anubhav Regmi). Prakash (Aryan Sigdel) is the best friend of Kusum and he loves her very much. Prakash has a beautiful daughter and his wife was died few years back. Sameer was a famous singer who is just back from jail. As Kusum sees Sameer, she falls in love with him. So she finds different ways to get closer to Sameer. She even forces Rhythm to learn guitar with Sameer. But as they get closer, she finds out many things about Sameer. So will Prakash be able to get the girl he loved? You will learn this only on the dramatic climax of the movie.

Watch or Not?
The movie is worth watching, purely because of the beautiful songs, witty acts of Aryan Sigdel and some amazing performances from a few actors.

Official Trailer of Nai Nabhannu La 3

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: Priyanka Karki, Aryan Sigdel, Sumina Ghimire, Prajwol Sujal Giri, Shishir SJB Rana, Loonibha Tuladhar (Known as Pawankali of Kantipur TV)
Directed By: Sudeep Bhupal Singh “Bobbie”

When is the last time you watched a good Nepali horror movie? Mala is a very scary horror movie about the spirit of a dead girl that haunts people responsible for her death. Directed by Sudeep Bhupal Singh (“Bobbie”), “Mala” is a horror movie starring Priyanka Karki as Mala. The picture also features Aryan Sigdel in the lead role and Sumina Ghimire, Loonibha Tuladhar (Pawankali of Kantipur TV) in supporting roles.

How much do you believe in ghosts? I think there are very less people who don’t believe in ghosts. If you are a science student, you may try your best to somehow prove it wrong. But you have to admit that there have been many evidences of spirits that science is still struggling to prove. Personally, I believe in spirits and this belief has got even stronger after watching science fiction Hollywood movie “Interstellar” which defines about other dimensions such as time and love. Yes, there are many probabilities that some other dimensions might exists which we’ve never imagined and where spirits wander. In the movie, Mala is a girl who was married from a village and sold in India. Human trafficking in Nepal is a serious concern.

“The trafficking of girls from Nepal into India for forced prostitution is perhaps one of the busiest slave trafficking routes anywhere in the world; with estimated 5,000-10,000 Nepali women and girls trafficked to India each year.” – Wikipedia

Poverty is one of the greatest factors that make girls vulnerable to trafficking. Because of poverty, it’s easy to tempt girls or even their parents for marriage. After marriage, it will be easier for them to sell her to the brothels of India. This movie has attempted to portray the condition of a girl named Mala who had similar past. They say it’s the way the story is told rather than how it is, that makes a better film. ‘Mala’ has very fine storytelling and then the message delivered must be appreciated. Maybe after watching this movie, traffickers may hold some fear inside to stop them from betraying others. There is another important message from this movie. Whenever you are going for organ transplant, make sure that the donor of the organ has approved it. Otherwise, the outcome can be worse than death.

The makeup artist did a terrific job to transform beautiful Priyanka to Mala. Her dead body hanging in the tree was even more terrifying. It was good to see every actor performing their best, which is a plus. Priyanka’s performance was undeniably flawless, which was vital since the story revolved round her. Pawankali’s act as ‘Mata’ was exceptional and much terrifying. I panicked the most when she spoke the words of Mala. Background score was really scary and very helpful for movie. There was one moment in the movie that looked little awkward. When Aakash was found dead hanging on a tree, I could see few girls laughing at it.

Plot
Mala is a girl who was sold to a brothel in India and later rescued. After she is rescued, Mala returns to her village, ‘Kuireni Gau’. But she could not tolerate her trauma and decides to suicide. It is believed that ‘unless body of a person is not completely destroyed, their soul strolls around the place and tries to find justice.’ She seeks help from a doctor Neal from his dreams. Neal is an atheist medical doctor and he starts to experience supernatural events, but justifies them with scientific logic. But things start getting worse. He goes to explore the secret thus revealing different hidden mysteries. Finally, Neal finds out Mala’s dead body and burns it with the help of her family. But this is definitely not the end. Watch the movie to uncover more of the movie.

Watch or Not?
If you love horror movies, this is a must watch, but not recommended for weak hearted people.

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.

Cast: Hanna Geschewski, Menuka Pradhan, Nikun Shrestha, Shanti Giri, Jyoti Karki, Arun Regmi, Deewakar Piya, Bina Pandey
Director: Pasang Lama

Nepali movie: Zhigrana is about the journey of Christine with her crew and a guide to Ruku, they land in a mysterious place called Zhigrana where strange things start happening. This contemporary thriller is directed by Pasang Lama and stars Hanna Geschewski of German nationality as team leader of an NGO and her Nepali accent was quite lovely. Other important casts are Menuka Pradhan, Nikun Shrestha, Shanti Giri, Jyoti Karki, Arun Regmi, Deewakar Piya and Bina Pandey.

Nepal is a country of some true natural beauties and the movie offers some marvellous scenic beauty of Rukum. There are still many unknown and hidden places in Nepal that has their own myths and mysterious stories. Some of them might be true while others are just told to scare people off. Zhigrana also has a frightening story of Kaal Panchami who used to sacrifice humans to gain power.

“Aba yo kaal panchami ko kura chahi, jasle jati dherai bali diyo, teti chado mukti pauchha bhanne biswas chha.”

Zhigrana is a perfect suspense-thriller and certainly fresh and original. The movie shows some gripping glimpses of ‘Jhakri’ in action. The starting of the movie was very promising. The first half was however little dull with very few absorbing moments but the movie takes a good grip as the second half starts and continues to thrill afterwards. Finally, the finishing was terrific. One final thing about the movie still lingered in my mind. I thought BK was not injured much. So, is he alive after the movie finishes?

It’s very refined and well directed movie. The Cinematography was marvellous. Sometimes they tend to thrill too much with the background sounds in the first half, otherwise it was an excellent background score and pretty much helping the scenes. The music was very bright and rocking. Dialogues in the movie seem to be well-prepared. Further, I was really amazed by the performance of each character. There is nothing ill to say about the performance of any actor. Everything looked clean and likely. When Smriti died and Shreeya goes on to slap Roger looked very clean and natural. Did she slap him in real? Well, he got two slaps from her. I find Hanna Geschewski speaking in Nepal very sweet. She looked very confident.

Plot
Christine has been working for children’s welfare with an NGO in Nepal for the past four years. Her boss assigns her to do a last mission in Ruku to collect information before she leaves for the United States. Ruku is the place where no NGOs or INGOs has reached before to gather information as a social worker. Christine is assigned as the team leader for the mission and other crews for the mission are Maya, Smriti, Rojar, BK Aka kattu and Shreeya. Maya and Rojar are in love with each other while Shreeya is the elder sister of Smriti. The boss assigns mysterious Ram, once jailed for a murder as their travel guide.

Leaving for the mission with her crew and guide, they take shelter in a small village called Zhigrana. Zhigrana has a story of a killer on the loose who sacrifices humans in the name of Kaal Panchami, a mythical ghost.

When they start to turn against each other regarding a death of a friend and with no one to trust, is it the ghost of Kaal Panchami or something else even stranger than that?

Watch or Not?
The movie is well-made suspense/thriller which will definitely amuse you. It’s a must watch movie if you are into suspense movies.

Official Trailer of Zhigrana:

Cast: Nisha Adhikari, Aamir Gautam, Resh Marhattha, Harshika Shrestha, Priyanka Karki (Special Appearance)
Director: Simosh Sunuwar

Mission Paisa 2: Reloaded is an action-packed movie presents game of money and war of vested interests. Simosh Sunuwar directed movie features Nisha Adhikari as Inspector Vaishali on a mission to crack down drug dealers and hopes for a society where nobody has to die because of drug abuse. The movie also features Aamir Gautam as Kublai and Resh Marhattha as Darpan Chhaya in the lead role.

“Money is the root of all evil” –Mark Twain

A rich man is seen in the society with respect and people around carry an honourable position for that man, whereas a poor person is seen by people with the eyes of hatred and they do not pose a good impression. Mostly all of us try to be as rich as others and compete in this modern age, but only a few people are able to fulfil their dreams. To become rich, many even follow the path of evil. In a race to be the richest person, we forget that the most beautiful things in this life are mostly free. Money will only make us greedy and it has never made us happy, nor will it. The more of it one has, the more he wants. Mission Paisa 2: Reloaded has a story of various people enslaved by money and tries to explain that following the evil path to become rich will not have a good outcome in the end.

Mission Paisa 2: Reloaded has a very good graphics and cinematography, but lack better script and screenplay was poor. It was a scrappy movie with no clear sequence of stories. The movie is based on action and action is where anyone can point out many slip-ups. There were many incidents in the movie, which we for no were pointless and never added anything to the story. Such things can easily make a movie waste of time and money. Most of the incidents in the movie looked pointless to me. The songs in the movie have not added anything to the movie. There are glimpses of few good dialogues, but overall, it has not added anything to the movie. Beside all these, all the actors have done very good from their side and background score of the movie was also good.

Plot of the movie:
Inspector Vaishali is on a mission to crack down drug dealers and hopes for a society where nobody has to die because of drug abuse. There were four friends: Kublai, Darpan Chaya, Cigane and Barun. After 15 years, in a journey to chase their dreams, Kublai becomes a top Don, Darpan Chaya who wanted to be an actor sells movie tickets in black and Cigane becomes seller of weapons. On their journey to fulfil their dreams, they encounter many people like Arjun or Neta Ji and corrupt DSP. Will they fulfil their dreams?

Watch or Not?
Such a film will only make you unhappy. No matter how much you try to make a movie with better cinematography, it’s the story that should make sense in the end. This movie has the worst story and would not recommend to watch it.

Cast: Sudarshan Thapa, Puza Sharma, Surakshya Pant, Pushpa Khadka, Bishal Dhungana, Pramila Khanal, Bipana Dhimal, Bijay Lama, Mithila Sharma, Ramsaran Pathak
Director: Alok Nembang

Nepali Movie: Ajhai Pani is sadly the last movie of one of the most decorated director of Nepal. Before this, Late Alok Nembang’s Sano Sansar and Kohi Mero were both exceptionally good and this time it’s no surprise. He was once quoted in an interview as “I am inspired by many things and incorporate them on my work but I don’t copy”. Freshness is what I love in his works.

Ajhai Pani is a cute movie about dramatic romance between Yunisha and Kushal. The movie casts Sudarshan Thapa in lead role as cute and handsome Kushal, Puza Sharma as Yunisha and Surakshya Pant as Shila. It also features Mithila Sharma and Ramsharan Pathak as grandparents of Kushal and Bijay Lama as Yunisha’s Mama.

Love is really so unpredictable. You never know how and when it enslaves you. They say love is a crazy drug, which can either do some magnificent heavenly things or some nasty horrible crud. Yes, love is blind, but I guess that’s what real love is, you’re blind to the things you don’t like about that person, or you’re blind to their faults or the way they hurt you. Ajhai Pani has a similar story of a blind love or should I say blind lover?

After ‘Sano Sansar’ and ‘Khoi Mero’, this is another masterpiece of Late Alok Nembang. It has a good story with excellent presentation, screenplay and cinematography. Background score was equally bright. A good balance between humor and emotions is what makes this movie better. There were few unbalanced performance of Puza Sharma, but overall it was excelled performance from all the artists. Sudarshan Thapa gave is best and it never looked like he was on his debut. I am also happy about Mithila Sharma’s terrific performance as grandma. Surakshya Pant was equally good in her role and did her job best. Very few Nepali movies can get into the heart of audience and I think this movie has succeeded to do so.

There is one thing that I didn’t like in this movie. When Yunisha’s mama and his friends scuffle with Kushal, the fight scene was looking too fake and impossible. Young boy with ‘kukhure jyan’ winning over lots of huge muscled men looked too exaggerated.

Plot:
After the death of his parents, Kushal grew up with his grandparents. Kushal is cute, handsome, with ‘kukhure jyan’ or lean body and every girls of his village were after him and they would do anything to marry him. But as his grandfather taught him, Kushal regarded every girls in the village as his sisters. Yunisha is a girl from different village. She is a nephew of Rana Bahadur and works in a ‘Sahakari Sanstha’ of same village. As Kushal sees Yunisha, he falls in love with her. Kushal and Yunisha’s love affair was getting deep while Kushal’s grandparents invited Shaili from another village to meet Kushal and fix their marriage. Shaili stays at Kushal’s home and becomes a close friend of Kushal. Two girls in the village are crazy of Kushal and tries to break the relation of Kushal and Yunisha. For that they create misunderstanding between Kushal and Yunisha which lead to conflict between them. Yunisha ignores him and reject his marriage proposal whereas Shaili is waiting to marry Kushal as she also falls in love with him.

Watch or Not?
It’s a beautiful Nepali movie to watch and if you love to watch romantic movie, this is another must watch movie for you.

Official Trailer of Ajhai Pani

Cast : Priyanka Karki, Suryamala Khanal, Arpan Thapa, Karma, Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Pramod Agrahari
Director : Bhaskar Dhungana
Choreography: Renasha Bantawa Rai

Nepali movie: Suntali is a story of beautiful and a mysterious girl in a sleepy village with a powerful and wicked matriarch. Based on an old saying, “Your sins return to roost from the rooftops”, it is a tale of revenge and vengeance.  Directed by Bhaskar Dhungana, the film features Priyanka Karki in the lead role as Suntali and Suryamala Khanal as Suvedarni or Chinmaya. Other important characters include Karma and Arpan Thapa. Suntali was selected for the Busan International Film Festival, one of the largest film festivals in Asia.

I’ve never lived a life of a village, but I have read lots of books and watched many movies that depict village ethnicity. Suntali offers a story of a beautiful village, where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens. Suddenly, like an un-invited son-in-law, a strange day arrives, which changes many things and a dark cloud hovers over the villagers’ happiness. Can it be the sin from the past that has brought this fateful day? Nobody knows what will be the end to this strangest game of fate.

Suntali has a different approach of storytelling and the makers were able to present the soul of cultural context and traditions delightfully. Loved the choreography and cinematography is extraordinary. I find the narration of Madan Krishna Shrestha very engaging in the beginning and ending. Background score was fantastic but somewhere between, I felt like the background music was dominating the foreground sounds. It was also wonderful screenplay as well but somewhere script seemed insufficient and was not as striking as I (and most of my friends) anticipated. While the makers have taken care on very little details so carefully, they have missed better storyline, not to mention the movie had very less humor or thrills. If you want to avoid spoilers, please avoid next paragraph.

As for much of the part the movie, a thief (although it was not mentioned, he looked like a thief) was always tied up with a hawaldar (junior post of police), but when the hawaldar was shot at the climax, the prisoner was not with him. May be they could have showed something for this. Also, the movie tries to create a difficult situation for Suntali as Bihari looked to blackmailing her but they never explain how Bihari finds Suntali or how she is trapped and the mystery is still lurking in my head. Also, it was known in the climax that Suntali was back for her vengeance on Subedarni but I was not much satisfied with her revenge. The script could have been more than this.

Plot:
Chinmaya Subedarni, the powerful matriarch of a village in Nepal is preparing for her son, Sundar’s wedding when Suntali returns with a menacing foreigner. Suntali befriends the master tailor and reawaken old relationship with Sundar, and building up her vengeance against Chinmaya by getting the village men to do her bidding. As we find out why Suntali wants revenge, Chinmaya also wises up to Suntali’s plot and initiates her own plan to destroy Suntali. Their feud will leave the hearts and minds of half of the village devastated, because only one of them will win.

Watch or Not?
Suntali is a well made movie, with different approach of storytelling, but because of not so striking story, it’s difficult to recommend anyone. Watch the movie it at your own risk.

Movie trailer of Suntali: