Venue : Jai Nepal Cinema Hall
Time : 5p.m.
The red carpet waited for colorful flip-flops and black leather shoes to grace their presence. In an about half an hour, the who’s who of Kollywood starts entering through the entrance of Jai Nepal Cinema Hall. Thus began the star-studded premiere of the much awaited Nepali film “Mero Euta Saathi Chha.” [break] Though the film was slated to release last August, Eyecore Films Private Limited postponed the screening twice explaining technical reasons behind the delay. Finally, “Mero Euta Saathi Chha” releases at different cinema halls in the capital city of Kathmandu from today.
The film caught attention of many since its trailer began a month before. Many even had “when is Mero Euta Saathi Chha releasing? Can anyone tell me the exact date for I could book a first-day first-show ticket” in their Facebook’s status.
Thursday night was indeed a big day for Sudarshan Thapa for he had waited long enough to prove himself as a promising filmmaker. Producer Prabhu SJB Rana equally looked nervous as the time had come for him to know whether or not his hefty investment on the film will show its true colors. Actor Namrata Shrestha with her juvenile smile looked confident as she has already established herself as someone with potential in clean acting while actors Aryan Sigdel and Jeevan Luitel could not make it to the grandeur because they were shooting for a film outside the Valley. Newcomer model turned actor Zenisha Moktan stood cool. She is still not sure whether she wants to get into acting seriously.
At around 7 in the evening, the curtain of Jai Nepal finally got raised, and thus began the movie that had been driving a lot of expectations and hopes in recent times.
Despite a plot similar to that of Korean movie, “Mero Euta Saathi Chha” is not a bore. Director Sudarshan Thapa has excelled in selecting the characters for his film. Though the Korean influence is seen in abundance, you however realize that if copying is done aesthetically and creatively, even the most closely copied storyline can keep alive the mood and can interest many. This film reminds many of Rekha Thapa’s “Kismat” which was copied scene to scene from the Bollywood movie “Taal” till its interval. Coincidentally in both “Kismat” and “Mero Euta Saathi Chha”, Aryan Sigdel is in the lead role.
In a nutshell, the story begins with Sikha (Namrata Shrestha), who has been waiting for her long lost childhood friend Jai (Aryan Sigdel) to return to her one day. Jai is a multimillionaire and is fond of wasting his forefathers’ property. He does not like academics and his attitude is a problem for many. He gets expelled from his school and right after that he finds out the preconditions his grandfather had set for him to have the power of attorney. He has to become a graduate to inherit his grandfather’s property as his own.
His legal counselor Thapa Ji (Ashok Sharma) reads him the conditions and sends him to one village to complete his graduation. That is where Jai gets to know Sikha better and then the story moves further with dramatic modes of expressions, attitudes and interesting plots. The entire screenplay moves in balance with these friends rotating around their own lives. The focus remains on the main subject without misleading the audiences to different directions.
Like in “Sano Sansar” Namrata Shrestha has once again proved that she can equally sizzle in front of cameras like any other promising actors in Nepal and in fact has made sure every time that she does not overdo anything. Not to miss is Aryan Sigdel’s acting in the film. Sigdel preferred to live low key till the time he was playing “House Full” teleserial, and became a fresh promising face in the showbiz when “Kismat” was released. He amazed many through his well-balanced acting in “Mausam”, and with “Mero Euta Saathi Chha”, he is sure to make it big in his coming ventures. His expressions are superb and his character play is always close to reality. Jeevan Luitel has done an average job and Zenisha Moktan’s expressions resemble quite close to Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor.
Needless to say, the soundtracks are fresh and beautiful to listen to. Special mention goes to Sugam Pokharel. The 2K camera has indeed created some magic. Thank God, director Sudarshan Thapa and cinematographer Rajesh Singh and Puru Pradhan did not shoot this movie in 16 mm and stretched it to 35mm projector screen, like how many in this line are fond of doing. Again the movie is not that exceptional to hope that it would bring some drastic changes overnight, but the attempts it has made is definitely worth appreciating. Renesa Rai steals the attraction in her choreography, especially during one item number by actress Rekha Thapa. Maybe for the first time that a choreographer in Nepal has succeeded showing an item number with sensuality. It has always been vulgar, otherwise. And, not to miss are the sets that director Thapa has created. Not that they are too sophisticated but at least it’s good to see someone trying to step ahead and break the stereotyped way of framing sequences.
For the rest, it is now entirely up to ithe audience to decide if they want to see more of such movies, or stay aback with Nikhil Uprety’s action scenes and Dilip Rayamajhi’s jhatkas and matkas.