Rara’s aesthetics discussed

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, May 6: The ‘Rara Film, Tourism, and Climate Summit,’ organised under the 2nd Karnali International Film Festival, concluded at Rara Lake in Mugu on Sunday.

 The one-day summit featured discussions on the interconnection between cinema, tourism, and climate change.

However, the 2nd Karnali International Film Festival is going on. 

Manjan Bahadur Karki, Chairperson of the Mugu District Coordination Committee, was the chief guest of the summit.

 Dinesh DC, Chairperson of the Film Development Board, Bishnu Kumar Bham, Mayor of Rara Chhayanath Municipality, Top BC, Chairperson of Gurans Rural Municipality, actress and director Deepa Shree Niraula,  actor Pradeep Khadka,  and Gopal Bhandari, Senior Officer at the Nepal Tourism Board, among others, participated in the festival. 

Held under the slogan ‘Let’s visit Karnali, let’s see Karnali,’ the summit aimed to promote Nepali cinema while raising awareness of tourism and climate change in the Karnali region. The two-session event focused on enhancing tourism infrastructure, preserving local language and culture, and positioning Karnali as a prime shooting destination for the international market.

Speaking at the event, actor and goodwill ambassador Pradeep Khadka said the summit would play a key role in highlighting Rara as a world-class natural site.

 Recalling the shooting of Prem Geet 2 in Rara, Khadka emphasised the cinema’s impact on promoting tourism and preserving culture. 

Khadka announced plans to shoot his upcoming film 26 Karod in Karnali. 

Film Development Board Chair Dinesh DC hailed the festival’s role in identifying new cinematic opportunities and expanding film culture into rural areas. He also shared plans to invite prominent Bollywood figures to shoot films in Rara and expressed the Board’s commitment to working in coordination with all levels of government to establish Karnali as an open studio for filmmaking.

Director and producer Deepa Shree Niraula expressed her admiration for Rara’s beauty and pledged to bring stories from Karnali to the silver screen.

 Mayor Bishnu Kumar Bham said that Rara gained widespread recognition following the release of Prem Geet 2, promising continued municipal support for similar initiatives through formal policies.

Gopal Bhandari from the Nepal Tourism Board emphasised the need for collaboration between tourism and the film industry, while local leaders such as Gurans Rural Municipality Chair Top BC and Soru Rural Municipality Vice-Chair Keshar Jung Shahi highlighted the summit’s role in amplifying Karnali’s voice.

Following the events in Surkhet and Dailekh, the awards ceremony of the Karnali International Film Festival is scheduled to take place in Kathmandu.