| Sajha.com Archives | |
| Username | Post |
| GP | Posted
on 27-Apr-04 06:27 PM
With due acknowledgement to Nepali Times. Source: http://www.nepalitimes.com/ copied here for discussion purpose only: Nepali Movies Ashutosh Tiwari in ‘Lights, camera, zzzz’ (Strictly Business, #192) completely fails to understand the background, context and audience of the Nepali movie industry by saying that they admit to being ashamed of being Nepali cinema artists. I have heard some artists’ dissatisfaction with the Nepali movie industry’s lack of a solid market and insufficient pay thereof, which have led them to seek other fulltime professions in order to maintain their livelihoods. I think they have every right to be disgruntled in that regard as long as we, the educated, English-speaking urban hipsters are unwilling to appreciate our own products over Hollywood and Bollywood fare. He then goes on to say that Nepali music videos are far superior to Nepali movies. Maybe he is focusing only on the cute, young models with awkward looks on their face as they catwalk on the sidewalks. They may be entertaining, but they are not ‘better, slicker, bolder, more creative or technically sophisticated.’ Contrary to Tiwari’s assertions, people calling the shots in the movie industry are not all ‘from the older generation with fixed views…’ In fact, some have lived for a long time in the most developed and liberal societies in the world. The reason ‘Nepali movies remain and will remain dull and boring’ to people like Tiwari is because they are not made for English-speaking Kathmandu urbanites. The rest of Nepal loves them. Kedar Koirala, --- Ashu's defence will surely appear in Nepali Times in Next issue(?). I would like to hear other reader's views on the article. Kedar Koirala would have defended Nepali Movie and its starts in different way than the way he has presented in this letter, I mean without attacking urban elites. I am not urban elite, so I don't know whether the reason Nepali movies are blamed for dumb, but, I like them very much. My philosophy behind liking them is not because these movies are comparable with top rated bollywood movies, but, because Nepali Movies are progessing day by day and they are getting experienced and learning. If Bollywood can copu Hollywood's even stories, whats wrong Nepali movies copying the styles, song and dance. HuBaHu copy is impossible and therefore, there is nothing cloning in movie industry. Nepali movies will keep on rolling and getting better and better. I expect to find their DVD version and if they start exporting DVD version, I am sure that the actor and actress will be paid enough because the producer makes lot from DVD sale abroad especially in Europe, Japan and America or Australia. They need a good marketing strategy and dedicated agents around the world. Next, thing the producer should spend some time is on turning the songs into Karaoke version. It has a huge potential among new generation Nepali kids who mostly know song and singing a song. Computer professionals can also have good job and earning if these songs can be turned to Karaoke version. They have huge potential for sale abroad among Nepali communities. Keep up good work. Nepali movie industry will Never die and its moving ahead very well and internet will make its move ahead much faster and demands quality production. GP |
| confused | Posted
on 27-Apr-04 08:51 PM
Ashu wrote this too, copy and pasted from Nepali Times :) "The people making music videos are young, educated, ENGLISH - SPEAKING urban hipsters who are flexible enough to borrow and mix ideas from a wide variety of influences from fashion, retro art, advertising, computer graphics, hip-hop, Kathmandu’s underground music scenes and changing aspects of urban Nepali societies" http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue192/strictly_business.htm |
| ashu | Posted
on 28-Apr-04 01:13 AM
GP-ji, Thank you for posting it. I see no need to be defensive about what I wrote. On a conceptual level, as a columnist, my job is NOT to repeat the platitudes, comfort my readers and reinforce the validity of their own thoughts. My job is to take risks with ideas, argue a different point of view with reasons, argue even in favor of counter-views to (hopefully) try to provoke the readers into thinking DIFFERENTLY about certain issues. [Such a task, I am aware, is easier said than done, but that's no reason not to continue doing it.] That is why, I have often said here on Sajha and elsewhere that if everyone agreed with what I wrote or said, if everyone did "wah-wah" to everything I did, or if I receive nothing but words of praises from my friends and well-wishers, then, I would seriously begin to worry about myself . . . for I would know that by giving in to all these "wah wah", I would be living a make-believe kind of life, and I wouldn't want that at all. In this vein, I welcome Kedar Koirala's criticisms, and I wish that more readers like him would publicly disagree with me with their own solid and verifiably true and respectable reasons, and help take the discussion forward without personalizing issues. That said, meantime, the questiion I tried to answer in that article remains intriguing to me: Even after accounting for length and expenses of making a music video vis-a-vis making a full-length Kollywood-style Nepali feature film, can those making "better and better" (judgents mine!) Nepali music videos teach a few things to those making lousier and lousier (judgemnts mine!) Nepali full-length movies? Maybe things such as experimentation, forming informal alliances, absorbing influences from a variety of sources -- stuff visibly common in the world of music video makers -- do count for something. or don't they? ***** Suva chintak: Will be responding to your media response soon, afer I get through this swamp of work today and tomorrow. oohi ashu ktm,nepal |