He’s too lost to feel the goons punching his back; all he does is peer into her beautiful eyes. He finally comes to his senses and takes on the villains who have been troubling his newly found love. He beats and outwits them.[break]
So progresses Naseeb Afno for the next two hours. Luitel saves Thapa a few more times, and finally with a lot of fighting and over-the-top dance sequences, the film ends in happy matrimony. Whether it is the recently released Naseeb Afno or any other Nepali films, damsels are always in distress in them.
The hero, the ultimate savior who is equipped with superpowers, saves her from the world’s woes and establishes himself as an undisputed authority.
“If you mute all the Nepali films that are screened in our cinema halls and watch them, you’ll understand that all of them have the same plotlines and end in similar fashion,” says researcher Anubhav Ajit.
“And not only in Nepal films, but in films all over the world, female actors are always in distress and men are upheld. Take for example the widely successful “Charlie’s Angels” series where three women private investigators save the world. Here too they are ordered by the voice of an unseen man,” he explains.
Ajit’s study of eight Nepali films released in the early ’90s, a time of huge political changes in Nepal, showed that all the studied films were regressive in nature.
They didn’t reflect the reality of the Nepali society, and the male actor was at the centre of each film. None of the films were influenced by real instances of social and political changes.
Even after the political revolution of April 2006, status quo-ic themes are typical of Nepali films. “Nothing has changed in the Nepali film industry.
The same theme of a hero, villain and a helpless damsel keeps repeating, and I don’t think anything’s going to change anytime soon,” reflects Ajit.
Deepa Gautam, another researcher and director of the program division at Nepal Television, analyzes this trend as being due to the demand of the audience and the outcome of patriarchy in Nepal. “Independent art films don’t stand a chance in Nepal with the commercial ones.
There are very few individuals who like to experiment and spend their money on it,” she says. “Women do occupy powerful positions at home and workplace but nothing is reflected in films. Such roles have been tried before but the storyline and the plot don’t support their character.”
For Gautam, it is the unrealistic dialogues and plots that stand out as major shortcomings in Nepali films. “In Kanyadan, a woman-oriented film; Gauri Malla is shown as village lass who calls for the doctor (Shiva Shrestha) in perfect English.”
Prakash Sayami agrees with Gautam but travels back to the inception of Nepali films to describe the whole phenomenon behind the portrayal of women in them.
“By name, the first Nepali film Aama appears to be women-centric but it was only a copied version of an Indian film which was further copied from another Russian film. The history of Nepali films begins from copying and that cycle hasn’t stopped.”
The critic who himself has made a number of films says that women in Nepali films have always been misrepresented.
He begins, “For example, with the introduction of color to Nepali films in 1975, women were introduced lusciously and beautifully – a mere element of beauty. Then they were given the name of goddesses, and they slowly transitioned into screen vamps.”
Sayami uses the term “Photobai” to refer to these female actors because all they did was sing and dance along with their male actors.
They had no independent voice.
“The fault also lies with the actors themselves. They never questioned their roles in the films. For instance, how can an actor in labor pain be in full makeup?”
Actor Rejina Uprety, who has so far acted in 60 Nepali films in the past nine years, however, believes that times are changing.
“Two years ago, things were different. Now actors only want to do the work they believe in, and women actors are far ahead in what they want,” she says.
“Unrealistic plots, heroes who can outfight a dozen goons, forced rape scenes, villains who laugh in devilish manners, and drink beer all the time aren’t going to work anymore,” says actor Richa Ghimire. Having worked in eight films, she likes to term herself choosy.
She says, “All of my upcoming films – Tulsi, Breakfail, Pachhyauri, Sathi Ma Timro – include apt portrayals of women.”
Uprety says the same. “My character in Chino was the most powerful portrayal that I’ve enacted till date. I play a female lawyer who is also a martial arts pro.”
The film which did not fare well at the box office showed Uprety in an aggressive pose in its poster. Researcher Gautam analyses such portrayal of women in a different light.
“When a Nepali male actor enacts an action sequence, it’s applauded by the audience. But when a female actor tries to do the same, it appears stupid and isn’t accepted with the same response. Our society is still a patriarchal one.”
The way out for Gautam is not to present women in similar supernatural roles that men are shown in but to search for realistic roles, a balanced approach.
Reecha Sharma, one of the new faces in Nepali films, asserts that she’s been trying to do just that.
“I’ve been very selective about the films I do. I debuted with First Love where my character is very independent, and all the films I’ve finished shooting have strong women’s roles in them.”
But she points out that the lack of women in technical and creative aspects of Nepali filmmaking doesn’t allow a woman’s perspective to find a
place in films.
“I dream of a day when I can work with a visionary Nepali female director and a crew full of women,” she sighs.
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