Some films are more than just movies, they are more than just a story, more than just some characters and they offer you more than what you ever expected. A biopic of Bhajan Siromani Bhakta Raj Acharya – “Acharya” is one such example.[break]
The veteran songwriter, composer and singer Bhakta Raj Acharya’s heightening musical journey ended before millions of his fans could ever imagine that what they did not imagine even in their nightmares would turn real in Acharya’s life. Since then, Acharya’s life was no less than any nightmare.
His stories, his sufferings, his struggles then became an untold story to many of his fans and well-wishers. And his voice only stayed in the echoes.
Prashant Rasaily and Roshan Rai’s “Acharya” unveils many such unfolded chapters of the maestro’s real life. Singer son Satya Raj Acharya playing the lead role, Bhakta Raj Acharya makes the entire film more involving.
Though the film’s duration is approximately two and half hours, the screenplay by Rick Baraff is taken care of so neatly that one would not find any moment of the movie a waste of time. Yes, “Acharya” is a feature film and not a docudrama. Yet the movie stands out from all other stereotypically made Nepali films.
Acharya keeps a proper distance with all the unwanted gimmicks, loud characters, unfitting soundtracks and exaggerated plot. Along with the story, which is extremely connecting, Acharya is rich with its characters, cinematography, screenplay, soundtracks, dialogue delivery, gestures and the setting – all what are required for a well executed biopic.
Director Prashant Rasaily, who is a well known name in Sikkim where he belongs to, is no new name even in Bollywood.
The runners-up of Indian television reality show “Gateway to Hollywood” is already popular as a promising young filmmaker in Sikkim. His execution in Acharya definitely preserves a large space in Nepali celluloid for him for many more years to come.
Satya Raj Acharya, so far known as one of the most promising singers of the country, awes everyone in the movie as an exceptionally matured actor.
I would not be wrong to say this that the singer-turned-actor has put in his soul to ensure that the biopic on his father would find a place in every audience’s hearts. He not only contributes to the acting but also renders the songs of his father beautifully, which no other singer could have done.
Apart from Satya Raj Acharya, all other characters who show up in the movie, have delivered their best. Aruna Karki, who plays Acharya’s wife, Sunil Pokharel who interviews Bhakta Raj Acharya (Satya) as a journalist, Saugat Malla, who plays the drunken hooligan beating Acharya, each of them contributes largely to the film. The movie is full of emotions.
In addition, the cinematography of the film is beautifully captured, which livens up the mood of the film, taking Acharya to the times of the 1960s-70s, the time when Bhakta Raj Acharya was struggling day and night to find himself a niche in the music industry of Nepal.
Each minute – from the backdrop to the costumes, the characters in the cameo and the dialogue – everything reminds you of the time when the Nepali modern and classical music scenes were trying to shape the industry.
Apart from Bhakta Raj Acharya’s real-life story, the film reflects on the whole music industry of that era with interesting anecdotes.
Acharya through Acharya’s story also uncovers the ironies that almost every struggling musician and singer of the time had to go through.
The movie politely discusses how every singer’s dream then used to be one opportunity to sit for the audition at Radio Nepal, while the state-owned radio had its own bureaucratic procedure and politics going within.
The two characters who take the audition of Bhakta Raj Acharya in the film often remind us of veteran music maestros Nati Kaji and Shiv Shanker. Acharya almost raises all the curtains of the music industry of the time when music was still not taken as a respectful profession in the country.
Bhakta Raj Acharya’s desire to become a singer, the struggle that he went through since his childhood, the discouragement from his family, the poor financial condition, the tragedies in family life one after the other, the Radio Nepal journey, winning Radio Nepal’s nationwide competition, and having to sell the gold medal to support his family needs – every plot of the movie has to say much more than the singer’s sole story.
No wonder Acharya, who was at the premiere of the movie at QFX Cinemas, wanted everyone across the nation to watch “Acharya.” In conversation with lyricist Yadav Kharel, Acharya, who has difficulties in speaking, gestured that he wanted to share his story with all those millions of his fans across the country because he never could share as much as he wanted.
Ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali’s special appearance in the film reminds many of how Ghulam Saheb had long ago complimented Bhakta Raj Acharya after hearing him sing.
The Ghazal maestro repeats his line in the film, “I’m so happy to know that Nepal has such a talented singer and composer. I wish I could listen more to your compositions.”
The movie releases at QFX Cinemas today.
The writer is Program Officer at Indian Cultural Centre.
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