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Batomuniko Phool: A withered flower

By No Author
KATHMANDU, Dec 1: Yash Kumar’s chart-topping single “Maile chhoyeko pani chaldaina” is now a full fledged movie – “Batomuniko Phool” (BMP). Starring the singer Yash Kumar himself, BMP discusses the issue of caste system. It attempts to deal with this serious issue but trivializes it, and the output is sour. It turns out to be just another enterprise by a Nepali director who is cashing in on scenic locations around Kathmandu to lure audiences.[break] The film like others before it, Kohi Mero and First Love to be particular, shares a weak plot and a fresh cast.



The story is full of loopholes. It staggers between reality and imagination. A rape scene is stuck in unnecessarily; flying kicks come in at awkward moments, and the lead actors possess superhuman powers. The background score played again and again in between sad or happy moments has been shamelessly lifted from the tone of “Idea Cellular.” It’s hard to brush away Abhishek Bachchan’s face from one’s mind each time the tune is played.



Even the song “Timilai kunai din na bhetu” takes its cue from the tone and elongates it. The love affair between Yash Kumar (Suresh Pariyar) and Guransh (Rekha Thapa) is the thread of the film, and the director weaves all sorts of incidents to support it.



Suresh’s brother Suman (Babu Bogati) has a small role in the film and his potential as an actor is left unexplored. What little screen space he has, he shines in it. His comic timing is good and so is his sensitivity. Yash Kumar, on the other hand, is too caught up in his solemn character. His undertoned voice often fails to give the desired effect.



Rekha Thapa stands up to her character as a rich father’s daughter who falls in love with a guy from a lower caste. She follows the role she has been assigned to without any remorse – dancing with her boyfriend, texting him often, and falling sick when he denies her attention. Her character has nothing to ask from life, except her lover’s admiration. If this is how young women in Nepal live like is a question left unanswered. There is also a scene where her father drags her to her bedroom and throws her on her bed.







Just one of many scenes that originated in Hindi cinema in the 1980s and ‘90s and still are a director’s favorite in our films. Nandita KC might as well be avoided in the film. She has nothing to do inthe film except dance around trees with Babu Bogati. The director uses her as a bait to receive sympathy from audiences. She must be raped by the villain Bhim for her to realize her love for the guy she dumped – Suman. Even after Bhim has been sentenced to prison after being convicted of the act, Guransh’s rich father would like to trust him with his daughter. Why would anyone trust one’s daughter with a criminal? The director should know!



And, by the way, what is Rajesh Hamal doing in the film? He makes a special appearance, but for what? An upright policeman who shouts at the screen to prove the innocence of a man who he decides has been wrongly convicted. The criminal or Suresh’s makeup is so tacky that you can see the coffee colored lipstick on his chapped lips.



The climax of the film can only be described as gruesome. The scriptwriter and the director must have run out of ideas. The cyclic pattern of two individuals deeply in love, some fateful troubles, an all-powerful villain, hindrances from the society, and rape trauma are repeated in the film. Even those picturesque shots in the film don’t provide any respite for the audience.



The story and the setting can best be summed as out of place. The film occurs in a village that has the lead actor zooming on a Bajaj motorbike and living in a house that is very finely decorated. Yash Kumar must have used his own life’s experiences in the film, but with all the masala added to it, one is left confused. The film needs to be viewed without any expectations, and it will leave you satisfied only if you are a diehard Yash Kumar fan.


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