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| This season, it seems like Pokhara has become a hot spot to shoot Nepali Movies (well, it always has been hot spot). All together seven feature film shootings are going on in Pokhara. Taking this as an opportunity, we had a chit chat with Deepak Rayamajhi, one of the most talented and educated director in the Kollywood who was in Pokhara to shoot his upcoming movie "Love Story 2066". He has a master degree in film direction which he had graduated from Europe. He started his career in Kollywood with "Bhagya Rekha" which is one of the blockbuster movies in Nepali cinema. After that, he kept on making movies, some movies like Yug Dekhi Yug Samma, Kasam, Priyasi which got well received by the audience while others didn't live to his expectation. He is also known as a director, who gives opportunities to the newcomers in the industry. He is the person who introduced Nepal's Superstar "Rajesh Hamal" in Nepali movies through "Yug Dekhi Yug Samma". Here is an excerpt of the chitchat. |
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| Some of your other films got flopped, excluding Yug dekhi Yug, Kasam, Priyasi which were a big hit, what do you think went wrong? |
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| Yes, I do agree that the return in investment for some of my movie wasn't good. I just wanted to make something different from other movies and to my bad luck, it didn't work as planned. I think, the movies hit the industry in the wrong time. I too think the publicity or marketing of those movies weren't good. |
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| There was big break in your career, were you planning for something big? |
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| Well, I might have away from the film industry but I wasn't away from the media. Actually, I was very busy in making the television serial ‘Bansha’ which brought me name as well as fame. |
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| What is the reason of having trust in the new faces, while others try to avoid them? |
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| All chickens are hatched from the egg, which means every superstar was newcomer one day. So, if we won't give chance to the newcomers our industry will have a human resource shortage. The other think, I believe is that the newcomers are very dedicated to their work and are easy for time management. They are ready to give as many retakes, until we are satisfied. At the end of day, it’s the hard work that's going to pay off. This was how Rajesh Hamal became a superstar. He too inspires me to give platform to the new actors, so that they can show their talent on screen. |
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| What sort of films would you like to make? |
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| I have directed many movies; some were blockbusters while some couldn't reach the viewers expectation. Well I do have lots of concepts in my head but I don't think they would be appreciated. But commercially, I am quite satisfied with my upcoming film Love Story 2066, where I have applied some of my concepts. I wish it will have commercial success. |
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| Though, there is a vast difference between the Ethnic movies and Nepal i movies, do you take Ethnic movies as a threat or competitor for the Nepali movies? |
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| Actually, I haven't seen any Ethnic movies yet. In my view, their targeted group is very limited and the technology they use can't be compared with us. But, I do think that they can be our competitors one day, when they will raise their budget and the quality of their videos by using well-focused cameras. |
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| What differences can you find in the present condition of Nepali movie and condition years back? |
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| There isn’t much difference!! There’s only some changes in action, light and tray. In the year 2044, 16mm camera was used to shoot movies and now after 25 yrs also, I am using the same technology to shoot my movies. |
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| You hold a degree in film direction but still you aren’t able to give big hits nowadays, in comparison to some of the director who hasn't got any formal education in film direction but has given big hit movies. What might be the reason? |
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| I know, the public appreciate those movies which include fighting, songs, emotions, etc scenes. Many Nepali directors just copy the story line of Hindi films, so these directors don't have creativity. I just don’t want to make copy of other films and take the credit. Form me, it doesn’t mean, commercial success is the only standard to evaluate films. Even talking about my own film “Yug dekhi Yug” which was a super hit was a copy of a hindi movie and I don't feel the same level of pride like when making movies with different subject matter. |
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| Are there any upcoming projects of yours? |
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| I have many upcoming projects like Girl Friend, Danger, Chadai aau, Destination Kathmandu. Among these Chadai Aau and Destination Kathmandu are a bit different, as local people are the actors and I have excluded fight and songs. |
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| As a director how would you define Pokhara as? |
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| Pokhara is a very beautiful place and it’s famous for tourism. It would also favorable to term it as a film city. |
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| Which site did you mostly shoot in Pokhara? |
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| I had my shooting in most the places like Fewa Lake, Manipal hospital, Bhalu Pahad, Bagnas Taal and many others. |
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| In accordance with Cinematography, what would the viewers find different in your film? |
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| Well there’s not much difference though others use the location in Fewa Lake for songs, I have dramatized on these scenes. |
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| In your view what is the scope of Nepali movies in Pokhara? |
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| In my view there is big scope in Pokhara. Pokhara is blessed by the nature, which provides excellent spots for shooting. I too heard that a big film studio is going to be constructed in Pokhara. If that studio will be constructed, then Pokhara can become the film city of Nepal. |
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| Interview: Bhupal Gurung |
