P Kharel

Events of the board of directors at a public institution does not necessarily make mainstream news, unless the team holds the public in admiration, awe and respect or if an appointee carries a scandalous background. A governing body should possess proven credentials and serve as a soundboard for inspiring initiatives. Public heart sinks rock bottom if policy guiding bodies are filled with members nursing casual approach.
The personalities aboard Nepal’s first film producing public corporation’s first Board of Directors towered stalwarts and established names in the genres of the world of wordsmiths and communicators by the early 1970s. Having cultivated credentials of widely acknowledged merit, with overall contributions to the world of pure Nepali literature and cultural landscape, including audio-visual form of literature, Nepalese public listed them among the best and the brightest.

Remarkable
Luminaries in Nepali literature, the great dramatist Bal Krishna Sama and poet Madhav Prasad Ghimire added by their very presence and prestigious weight to the Royal Nepal Film Corporation (RNFC)’s board of directors. Some of their works made notable marks on also Nepali cinema. Much of the literary landscape lists Sama side by side with Laxmi Prasad Devkota and Lekhnath Poudyal as the arena’s leading trio. Ghimire, later honoured as National Poet (Rastrakavi), was Vice Chancellor of Royal Nepal Academy for 10 years and Chancellor for two more. In fact, the Sama-Ghimire duo does not require much introduction as far as their contributions to Nepali literature are concerned.
Sridhar Khanal was credited with the story of RNFC’s maiden feature film Manko Bandh, released in 1974. He was credited with story, lyrics and assistant directorship for Hijo, Aaja, Bholi - a feature film produced by the government’s publicity department in the mid-1960s. He played a negative character in the film. A pioneer writer of crime fiction in Nepali, he was already a noted humour-satirist, with more than half a dozen books and numerous published articles. Assistant director of Maitighar - the first feature film made in Nepal - he was the founder editor of the Sagarmatha news agency. His two regular columns in the then largest circulating tabloid weekly Naya Sandesh, under the pennames Bishwamitra and Shree Samanantar, had a huge fan following.
Teeka Simha was among the rare woman members on the executive committees at public corporations. Avidly interested in photography since early, she had professional cameras for constant company. A diploma holder in photography from London, she held the distinction of pioneering colour photography in Nepal. My first encounter with her was at Tribhuvan International Airport’s press enclosure in connection with King Birendra’s coronation in 1975 when three score foreign dignitaries, including Britain’s Prince Charles, the then Japanese Crown Prince Akihito and his consort Michiko, Imelda Marcos of the Philippines and Australian Governor Sir John Kerr, arrived for formal celebrations. With the upper end of her saree tucked neatly on the waistline, she was seen clicking her camera with action-filled seriousness. I interviewed her number of times in the 1980s after she was appointed RNFC’s executive chairperson.
And, last but by no means the least, Executive Chairman Yadav Kharel stood out as the first Nepalese national to earn a formal two-year diploma in film direction and production under London University. On learning of his nine-year stint as programme host at Radio Nepal, the BBC approached him for coordinating and anchoring its newly launched Nepali service. As a British government scholarship holder, he was ineligible for work-and-earn. On the public service broadcaster’s recommendation, however, the British Council waived the clause in his favour enabling him to steer the Nepali service that became an instant hit. Nearly 30 years later in 2000 and after several critics-appreciating movies he directed, Kharel was appointed chair for two years at RNFC’s successor, Film Development Board, which drafted a comprehensive proposal for introducing major reforms.
With such noted names of established records in various branches of expression on their governing board, RNFC staff members found themselves spellbound with awe and respect. Their organisation was engaged in cinema and documentary making, and hence the significance of creative minds pooling ideas together for laying down the institution’s foundation at its nascent stage.
Madhav Prasad Ghimire’s poetry proved to be a roaring success when picturised on RNFC’s maiden feature fare Manko Bandh, directed by Prakash Thapa whose next directorial work was RNFC’s Sindoor - the most successful box office grosser for many years. I happened to do news stories and opinion pieces on both these movies, apart from interviewing their directors, artistes and prime hands behind the camera, including Sushma Shahi, Shiva Shrestha, Minakshi Anand, Gopal Raj Mainali, Basundhara Bhushal, Narayan Gopal, Nati Kazi, Prakash Thapa and Basanta Shrestha.
Chetan Karki and Kiran Kharel were well-known names even before they joined as regular staff members at RNFC, which took off as a follow-up to the New Communication Plan drafted by communication expert Jagdish Sharma and senior editor at The Rising Nepal, Mana Ranjan Josse. Director Thapa had acted in quite a few Hindi movies, including Farz, Holi Ayee Re and Suhag Raat.

Worth emulation
Among the numerous boards of directors appointed to public corporations these past six decades, RNFC’s first team of its kind takes the cake for the most illustrious presence that amply showed in the warmth and pride generated in the institution. Men of letters, rare audio-visual hands and lens persons cover vital branches of communication. They combined to constitute the distinguished five of proven talent, creative imagination and lasting influence on RNFC’s pace of progress. The five swelled the heart of anyone familiar with their respective works offering wholesome satisfaction. Some of them were sources of spontaneous reverence.
Sama passed away at age 78 in 1981; cancer cruelly claimed Simha, the pioneer in the photography sector, at age 57 in 1993; and Ghimire breathed his last at age 101 last August. Only two of RNFC’s founding five are physically present in flesh and blood — Khanal, 89, and Kharel, 78. Khanal is reluctant to write his memoirs, as he can neither portray falsehood nor bear the risk of incurring the displeasure of others at the current stage of his life. Kharel continues to be engaged in creative activity and a memoir might just not be improbable.
Any government would do well to appoint national commissions, boards of directors and members of various committees at public institutions in the spirit of drawing the best among the available. RNFC’s team in the 1970s remains exemplary in lending an illuminous presence to a debut-making institution. That should not be an exception. Break the barrier and reap rich rewards.

(Professor Kharel specialises in political communication.)