The film has had a 51 day celebration, garnering applauses from the so called non-Nepali film viewers -- the multiplex going audiences -- alongside others.[break]
So what did it take for a film directed by a first timer to have multiple shows a day at QFX, Ganga, Gopi Krishna and in the cinema halls in Pokhara and Hetauda?
At a time when the film development board of Nepal was about to declare an emergency for Nepali Cinema, Loot reaped more than 30 million rupees, the largest sum of money earned by a Nepali film so far.
The film’s unique selling point, we must agree, was the film itself. Although, Loot has nothing exceptional about its storyline and has nothing extravagant in terms of technicalities, the film is praise worthy, first, for its refreshing approach and, second, for keeping things real.
The film picked up audiences after the second week of its screening through the power of “word of mouth” promotion.
But this wasn’t all for the endorsement, the makers seem to have understood and utilized the power of social media to the fullest.
Even before the release, the film had a Facebook page and visual teasers on YouTube both of which were getting hits like no other film had in the past. It was all strategic.
What else can explain the promotional videos and songs being released one after another, each revealing a little more of the film than the previous one. There was a coming soon trailer, a final trailer, various posters explaining the characters, and even countdown posters until the film’s release.
And then the song “udhreko choli”, proudly declared as an item number. The song has been a massive hit adding to the popularity of the film. Director Nishchal Basnet has always openly declared that the sole purpose of the film was to entertain.
By the time the film released, Loot was all across the internet. People were writing about it in blogs, sharing the trailers and the item song on their Facebook walls, and updating their twitter status with dialogues from the film.
Nothing in such a massive scale has ever happened in the social media for any Nepali film till date.
After the film’s release, it was amusing to see reviewers giving it a thumbs up. The film received positive reviews in which writers in various Nepali media supported the effort of the makers.
Theaters continuously reported substantial audience rise day after day as audiences visiting cinema halls encountered house full signs.
Everyone knew the film was here to stay when Loot being a Nepali film overtook a big banner Indian film like “Agneepath” in drawing moviegoers to the theaters.
The biggest achievement of the film was breaking the age old structure followed by typical Nepali films: ‘Hero’ assigned to fight goons and save his damsel in distress, and goddess-like heroine with altruistic motives only to sulk and compromise.
Loot does away with such characters and replaces them with five anti-heroes, joking, laughing, talking and cursing each other. Here was something bold, something real and yet invigorating, and that too from a young first time director, Nischal Basnet.
The idea of Hakku Kale, Gople, Pandey, and Khatri struck Nischal “just like that” one sleepless night. He believed in theatre and chose people from there, and his decision was right as the efforts the actors put in the movie have made Hakku Kale and Gople household names.
Their dialogues were another plus point for the film. It was something totally different from what the audiences were used to hearing in Nepali films.
These characters were using day-to-day speech, cursing and yelling at each other; their dialogues didn’t come across as scripted or pretentious. Saugat Malla as Hakku Kale and Dayahang Rai as Gople are said to have worked closely with Basnet on the script. They consciously kept it real which did pay off.
The film is still in theaters with newly designed posters. It’s definitely the time to make way for a new Nepali cinema.
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