Royal Nepal Film Corporation was producing a feature film “Mannko Baadh”, which was being directed by Prakash Thapa. After going through the vacancy announcement for actors published in Gorkhapatra, he applied along with dozens of other actors vying for the role.
However, even before Shrestha appeared for the screen test, he heard director Thapa talking to his fellow director that Shrestha was not at all fit for the role. Thapa did not find him photogenic.
Shrestha felt utterly let down. He would never have made such a long journey in both big and small screen.
Originally from Dolakha, Madan Das Shrestha, 61, never dreamt of making it big in the Nepali film industry. In fact he was clueless about this genre of art till he befriended people like choreographer Basanta Shrestha and actor turned painter Gautam Ratna Tuladhar. During his college days in their company, Shrestha got fascinated to stage shows and other forms of performing art.
For someone, who hailed from the rural backwaters of Dolakha, the cultural programs in the capital were obviously something big and attractive.
Shrestha attended many stage shows and cultural programs with his friends. Soon, he was offered to appear act onstage. He loved it but his parents did not.
“It was almost four decades ago. The acting profession was not considered respectful. My father was often greeted with rude remarks like ‘Ooo herr nautanki ko bau (Look there come the father of a joker)’,” Shrestha unveiled.
Arguments were nothing uncommon at his home. Shrestha’s father even made him to spend nights on the lanes in the chilly winter. He hated his son coming home late after shooting sessions.
K chai kamauchas hoyi, gayine Bhayera gaudai nachadai Jindagi bitchha? (What do you think you’re going to earn this way? Do you think singing and dancing will help you eke a living? Madan Das Shrestha still remembers these words from his father. Shrestha is now happy to have proved his father wrong. But after he got appointed as permanent staff at Royal Nepal Academy (now Nepal Academy) in 1970, his life changed forever. Opportunities knocked at his door one after the other and there was no looking back.
From hosting radio dramas through Radio Nepal to stage acts, Madan Das Shrestha became an entertainer to look up to. And right after casting himself in a teleserials like “Fuse Gayeko Jindagi”, “Chakrabiyu” and “Nimitta Nayak” he turned into a sought-after-actor of the small screen for many years in Nepal. He also produced serials like “Mamata” and “Parkhaal.”
Shrestha also fulfilled his dream of working in the big screen through the feature film “Pachhiss Basanta”, in which he played the negative role and his character was admired by many. Even director Prakash Thapa apologized one day to have told him that he was not fit for cinemas. He was flooded with projects, mostly in teleserials and to this day, Shrestha has done both cameo and big roles in mainstream movies. However, he admits that it were his character roles through teleserials that made him popular. The recent one that earned Shrestha more fame is his character of Pashupati Budha in Hari Bansha Acharya and Madan Krishna Shrestha’s Madan Bahadur Hari Bahadur.
“So far, I am satisfied,” says Shrestha, who believes he picked up the right profession. “Had I not been an actor and listened to my dad, I would have been one of the random retired citizens. I would either have earned the reputation of a corrupt officer, or would have died unnoticed. Thank God! I got into acting. At least, people respect me today.”
Shrestha makes it loud and clear that character artistes can earn handsomely today depending upon how much effort one is willing to put in. “I did not make my home out of the parental property I inherited. This is made out of what I’ve earned so far,” he concluded pointing out his three-and-a-half storey residence at Ghattekullo.
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