Comedian and architect Pranesh Gautam’s arrest for his satirical review of the movie “Bir Bikram 2” got mixed reactions from the public. While some believed that Gautam had overstepped the line, many thought it was an outright violation of his freedom of speech. Our constitution guarantees free expression but where does one draw the line?

Amélie is a 2001 film that the world knows of as that one “French film” everyone has probably watched at some point in his/her life. Its main characteristic is that it’s so undeniably French (for better or for worse). It was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the film stars the beautiful Audrey Tautou as Amelie, a kind hearted but a lonely woman living in the late 90s Paris, trying to sort through her life as well as of those around her.

The use of Dhaka in clothes – be it kurtis, saris, or even gowns – has become really popular in the recent times. With a lot of people finally waking up to see and appreciate the beauty of these handmade fabrics, Dhaka has become a staple when it comes to Nepali fashion, be it traditional or modern wear.

In the book The Stranger by Albert Camus, the protagonist, a man named Meursault, is sentenced to death essentially for being not sad enough about his mother dying. He is considered a stranger in the society because he did not behave in the way people assume one should whenever they face a personal tragedy. The story was a medium through which Camus wanted to show that if you don’t maintain a certain façade, to meet the societal standards of what is deemed right and wrong, or in his own word “when one doesn’t play the game”, you are considered a dangerous alien capable of bringing ruin to the community, and society at large.

Mandala is a spiritual symbol special to Hinduism and Buddhism. Mandala literally means “circle” in Sanskrit and it is seen in religious texts and architecture in most regions of Asia. Nowadays, mandalas and thangkas have become a well-known art form here in Nepal as well as all over the world, thanks to their intricate details and colors. Sukriti Bhatta, an aspiring artist who specializes in mandala making, confesses that she is fascinated by the art form and wants to pursue it as more than just a hobby.

The last episode of Game of Thrones aired on May 19, 2019 and it marked an end of a show that had been in the center of pop culture for almost a decade. The show first caught people’s attention thanks to its explicit content (both sexual and violence) and for killing off main characters like how one eats popcorn, all at once and without much care.

Lhakpa Phuti Sherpa was born in 1964 in Mushey village of Solukhumbu district, Nepal. As a child she would see tourists pass through her village in order to climb various mountains and she had always been fascinated by their motivation to take up such a daunting challenge.

Tucked away in a quite corner at Freak street in Basantapur is probably one of the best Japanese food serving stations in town. Japanese Food Takoyaki SOLO has been serving authentic Japanese street food plus sushi for just over a year but it has already gained a devoted set of customers who come quite regularly to indulge in the various Japanese delicacies that it’s popular for in the short time it has been in operation.

Improvisation is an important and necessary part of jazz. The fact that jazz makes allowances for any artist to give their own touches to the music adds a certain appeal to the musical genre. It also often draws inspiration from life experiences and human emotions. And it’s because of this flexibility and freedom of expression that jazz music is slowly becoming popular among the masses.

Thanks to social media, anyone with a knack for any particular skill like drawing, dancing, singing etc. can showcase their talent online. This way, many singers get discovered, many artists are commissioned, and many writers appreciated. Anyone can put out their works for others to see but it does take a certain amount of gumption to do so.

Mental health awareness may have been a subject of taboo a few decades ago but thanks to mainstream media, books as well as people coming out and sharing their experiences about issues like anxiety, depression, personality disorders, those struggling with it can now be open about it.

Ojaswi Baidya and Ibha Baidya both confess to always having been particularly fond of silver jewelry. The sisters would always opt for silver instead of brass or even gold. Something about the sublime metal appealed to them and Ojaswi was also sensitive to metal, quickly getting itches and allergies when she donned metal jewelry.

I stumbled across Oldboy at a film related Instagram page (@thpurecinema) and I really liked its plot. An average man, weakened by alcoholism and the hardships in life, is suddenly kidnapped and held at a hotel like prison cell from where he can’t get out. He is trapped in this very cell for 15 years and has no idea why or who did this to him. The administrator of the page had mentioned that this was one of the best foreign films he had watched so far and so I wanted to give it a try.

Mahima Shrestha was in a very disturbed state of mind when she sat for her CA exams because her grandmother had recently been diagnosed with cancer, and Shrestha had found out that the cancer had reached an extremely advanced stage.

Everybody has a food preference. Some like chicken, some like cottage cheese, and then there are those who seem to prefer mushroom over everything else. Rajkumar Adhikari, a civil engineer by profession, had a food bias for corn. He always found himself gravitating towards “poleko makai” (roasted corn on the cob) that vendors sold on the roadside. But he found his experience of indulging in a perfectly roasted corn complete with chili paste on the side somewhat dulled by all the noise and dust on Kathmandu streets.

The key to fashion is balance. And nowadays it looks like no one can pull of fashion better than the Koreans. Thanks to the Hallyu wave that paved the way for Korean fashion and K-pop to spread all over the world, there is no dearth of fashion inspiration online.

All of this, however, was anything but simple. Born and raised in Chitwan, Shrestha has an educational background in pharmacy. Prior to his rehab days he had no experience whatsoever when it came to tattooing.

The team at Shilpee Theatre has decided to keep things realistic for “Symphony of Storm”, their new play that circles around the “storm” that comes with being a teenager in our society, encapsulating different dimensions of the teenage life ranging from education and family matters to love.

When your friend says he or she just visited a wonderful, quaint village somewhere in Nepal, you will have to rely on the images and anecdotes shared by him or her as you will get absolutely no information about the place and its culture via our go-to information guy – the internet. It is alarming how little of Nepal is documented on the World Wide Web.

Three middle-aged men sit at a typical Japanese restaurant sipping hot sake. One of them has taken a young wife and the other two mock him for it. In any other film, this scene would be loud and have a lot of movement.