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.