Three Nepali, two foreign films releasing today, show distribution irks producers

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 8:Three Nepali films are set to release on Friday in Nepali cinema halls, targeting the ‘Mahashivaratri’ festival.

Three Nepali films, ‘Rangeli’, ‘Kandetar’, and ‘Uphaar’, along with the Hollywood film ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ and the Bollywood film ‘Shaitaan’, will be released in Nepali cinema 

halls on Friday.

 Meanwhile, Nepali film ‘Agastya - Chapter 1’, and Hollywood film ‘Dune: Part Two’ will enter the second week.

 ‘Rangeli’ is written and directed by Arjun Subedi.

 Dayahang Rai, Miruna Magar, Arpan Thapa, Prabin Khatiwada, Ramesh Budhathoki, Rupesh Jha and Sundar Dhital  have worked on the film. 

The grand premiere of the film was held at Big Movies on Wednesday. 

Arjun Subedi debuted as a writer and director in the film.

‘Kandetar’, written, directed, and produced by Nawal Khadka, narrates the relationship between Nepal and India, shedding light on the encroachments of border pillars by India. Its central theme advocates for the installation of barbed wire along the Nepal-India border for enhanced security and sovereignty.

 In the film, Khadka himself has played the lead role while Gaurav Pahari, Surabina Karki, Rebika Gurung, Prashant Yadav, Muralidhar, Prem Subba and Sanjay Khatiwada are other actors. 

The film was premiered on Tuesday in the presence of former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, CPN (ML) leader CP Mainali. 

Likewise, Rekha Thapa’s comeback film ‘Upahaar’, directed by Gyanendra Deuja, is also being screened 

from Friday.

 Along with actress Thapa, Pooja Sharma, Mukun Bhushal, Benisha Hamal, Tej Giri, Samarpanjung Karki, Sushma Karki, Shishir Rana, Rajaram Paudel and Kiran KC have 

done the film.

 Meanwhile, producers have raised concerns over the distribution of screenings for upcoming Nepali films starting this Friday, with particular dissatisfaction directed towards QFX, a prominent multi-screen cinema hall. 

Producer and actress Rekha Thapa has expressed strong discontent regarding the limited number of shows allotted to her film ‘Upahaar’. 

Thapa strongly opposes this discrepancy, highlighting that other major cinema chains like Big Movies, Fcube, and others have allocated commendable show time while QFX appears to prioritise foreign cinema over Nepali productions.

The dispute between filmmakers and exhibitors over show sharing is, however, not new.

 Previously, dissatisfaction over show distribution led to the removal of a film that was running.

Subarna Thapa’s  ‘Radha’ faced this fate.

 Thapa and his team withdrew the film just one day after its release, alleging injustice in showtime distribution between Nepali films and foreign films.

Later, the film ‘Radha’ screened in various national and international festivals and won multiple awards.

Upon release, Nichal Basnet’s ‘Dimag Kharab’ also faced dissatisfaction with showtime distribution. 

However, with coordination among various film-related organisations, the film was eventually released and proved to be a box office hit