It was eight at night. After circling down Golfutar height in the crisp dark, we headed towards a glowing house. We meaning Subel, Arpan and myself. In the garden were all big bundles of snake-like cables and wires, two humongous fans facing the windows and lights all around the house as bright as the sun. A battle was going on between the actor and the director. The director, Manoj Pandit, was watching the shot in the monitor, half-bowed. He would not say O.K. after every shot. Saugat, the hero of the movie, was delivering his lines wearing a black shade, “I welcome you to this house of Krishna .” It seemed as if he was making fun of the utter darkness outside.
“Saugat, acting and sex are almost the same. Enjoy it,” someone said aloud. A day before, old BS Rana the actor gave the director a fantastic shot after hearing the same piece of dialogue. This time, it had no affect on young Saugat. A different movie with a different subject in a different style with different acting – director Manoj Pandit, actors Anup Baral and Saugat Malla and producer Apeel Bista were gathered together this day to capture the best shots for their movie Dasdhunga, an exclusive package of all the different ideas.
The story revolves around the Dasdhunga accident that killed communist leaders Madan Bhandari and Jeebraj Aashrit. The Nepal Communist Party- Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) leaders were returning from a public function when they met with an accident and died. Many believe that the accident was a conspiracy. Others went for different theories and rumors. “But our story is about research into the accident,” said Anup Baral, who was playing the role of a researcher. There were three shots taking place on this night with Anup and Saugat. “This is the first encounter shot of me and Saugat,” said Anup. The movie has tons of suspenseful twists and the actors are not ready to say a word about the characters.
After making two films -- ‘Lakshya’ and ‘Greater Nepal’ -- Manoj Pandit is trying his hand at a more complicated film, as if life is not complicated enough already. Anup Baral, who has made quite a different name for himself in theatre, is pushing his limits in the role of a “Psycho” researcher. Saugat Malla and Dayahang Rai, two young theatre artistes full of life and vigor, are trying their luck with small but powerful roles. Gorgeous and profoundly amazing actress Sanchita Luitel will be more than an addition to this lot of young, talented filmmakers and enthusiasts. Rajan Upreti is taking his first step into the chaos of a “big film” as an associate and casting director.
“We plan to release the movie at 35 movie halls around the country on January 31,” producer Apeel Bista says. That is the date for the CPN-UML’s general assembly, which will be followed by Free Student Union elections in colleges and universities. The producer hopes this movie, which deals with the life span of the biggest CPN-UML names, will have a heavy impact on many and become the talk of the town.
The shooting is going on, but the producer is profoundly worried the budget will get out of hand. Another producer is Menuka Shrestha, who is also the owner of the house where the shooting is taking place. Her tidy little house is all muddled up and the shooting is far from over. Outside her compound, a generator is making more noise than a Boeing jet. On the other side, food is being prepared under tarpaulins. Some windowpanes have already been shattered, all in the energy of the “shooting”.
“I am the murgha of this movie,” Apeel said. Murgha in Nepali film lingo denotes a dumb investor. Apeel is an investor who was a film student and a documentary maker. A documentary titled “13,246” which he produced and directed, is all set to be released. He shows the trailer on his iPhone. The documentary on the decade-long Maoist conflict and its effect took five years to make and apparently took him to sixty districts. He does not hesitate to introduce himself as a Murgha. “Why not, the whole bazaar calls me one anyway,” he explains the reason. Asked why he became a Murgha if he knew the market was just going to use him as a dumb investor putting all his money at risk, he replied, “Well, I believe in the subject and in the director.” This U-turn was enough to make us realize that he was actually a super smart professional producer/investor flaunting the idea of being a Murgha.
Shooting was still going on inside the living room on the ground floor. The lead actor from the popular movie Kagbeni finished all takes for one shot and now takes a break. There is no electricity in the house, actually in the whole area, due to load-shedding. The diesel in the generator might be running down to the last drops. The shooting is one tough job. At one point, it came to a total halt because all the cigarettes got puffed at by the actor for the takes.
Sporting a stylish black trilby, Anup Baral takes a look at the shot and then again starts chatting. Harendra Limbu, producer of Manoj’s first movie, shows up with a gift. The director goes for a break as the next shot gets prepared. “Cut” and “One more” and he leaves the set. “Every hundred [people] will have ten actors. Among every ten actors, there can be only one director’s actor,” he hinted at Anup Baral. We did not disagree.
My small digital camera took no shot. Arpan was there, his camera looking like a mini-SMG. One problem solved, Arpan will take photos. I needed to talk to the director on some serious movie issues, or else the shooting report would get shot down. “Let’s not say too much for now. You know the subject. The rest after the movie gets released,” was the answer which was more strategic than diplomatic. “We are trying to look at the Dasdhunga incident with a different, interesting and more believable approach,” that is all Manoj said. Kiran Poudel, who researched the subject for the movie, nodded. We nodded too. Hell, we have not even researched anything regarding the matter.
The producer is alarmed that the expenses might reach 3.5 million rupees, even though the shooting is solely in High-Def Digital version. There is an “arguement” on how many days the shooting has been going on. And similarly on the tentative date it will be over. According to the director, it will be over in ‘15 days’. Apeel, the producer, refuses to believe. The last day of shooting will take place at Krishna Mandeer in Patan Darbar Square, and that day they will use all the lights they have in the Nepali movie industry. On that, they do not disagree.
It was ten-thirty. Subel and Arpan, who usually operate at night, need to go home soon. But things took a twist -- consumption of the dinner of the shooting crew. I fully supported the idea. “Vegetarian” Subel and “all-terian” Arpan were not comfortable with the idea when they heard the word Bhat (cooked rice). But they complied. After the dinner under the tarpaulin tents, there is one more scene to be shot. For which Manoj, Apeel, Anup, Saugat and Rajan returned to their hood, in an initiative to shed lights on the mystery of “Dasdhunga”.
Related story
Lights Out
