Kollywood : Going beyond national boundaries

The market for Nepali films has been expanding abroad lately. The expansion is attributed to several reasons, with the optimization of digital technology for film production and screening being the top cause.

The expanding market in countries where a large number of Nepalis reside, as well as in other nations, is also increasing the belief that the expansion would further boost the Nepali movie industry, which has an annual turnover of Rs 1.65 billion.

In the initial days, films would be screened using celluloid technology, which limited the scope of film shows to inside and outside the Kathmandu Valley only. The screening time used to be changed in the cinema halls, and they used to transport small boxes of reels from one movie hall to another to show a movie. However, times have changed now.

The scope of the Nepali film market is expanding both at home and abroad with the departure from the traditional approach in the production and screening of films. This very approach is now replaced by the use of digital technology, innovative promotional events overseas, and the increasing presence of Nepali movies in international film festivals.

Nepali films are now shown not only in Nepal but also across the globe, provided permission for worldwide screening is granted timely. At present, Nepali films are relying on various digital platforms such as YouTube, as the Over the Top (OTT) platform has an inadequate number of Nepali movies. Nepali movies thus have to be screened in cinema halls first to earn the first audience.

The changing patterns of movie-making and its expanding market are increasing challenges and concerns along with cheers. Retaining loyalty among the growing number of audiences has emerged as the top challenge for filmmakers of late, admit filmmakers. Film director Sunil Pandey shared, “Celluloid films (meaning films made using reels) were produced based on manual work, experience, and acumen of the makers.

Even the director of the film could not see the scenes filmed until the post-production works. One had to watch the film through the gaze of the cinematographer.” Another film director, Gyanendra Deuja, opined that in those days, audiences did not have any other platforms to watch films except for the movie halls. Hence, audiences thronged the movie halls in droves.

“There were no platforms like OTT like now. The audiences had little choice about watching a movie due to the limited number of movies made in those days and the limited number of movie halls. Thus, they used to come to the movie halls to watch the movies which were mostly made surrounding love themes or exploitation under feudalism,” he narrated.

Producer and director Ashok Sharma viewed that the attraction of Nepali movies is far more among rural audiences than urban ones. Sharma has experienced the craze and affection of audiences for movies firsthand by visiting movie halls during movie screenings. Illustrating audiences’ craze and affection, he cited the movie 'Truck Driver,' produced by him, being screened across the country some three decades ago.

He recalled, “I went to Surya Talkies (Hall) in Urlabari, Morang, along with the artists in the movie. Over 1,500 audiences were desperately waiting in the hall, which had a 500-seat capacity, just to take a glance at the cast of the film."

"The audiences used to get fainted due to the hot and humid weather since it was summer and perhaps due to excessive excitement!” quipped Sharma, sharing another anecdote of how the fainted audiences would enthusiastically enter the hall to watch the movie over again after regaining consciousness. “The attention span of the audiences towards the screen was such that they would not go home until the movie was over.” The cast of the films used to ‘meet and greet’ the audiences in celebration of the film crossing the 51st day of screening.

This is a narrative of those days when a handful of celluloid films were made and released annually. In the last five years, on average, 60 to 70 movies have been released annually. Nowadays, digital technology is used in film production to screening, and it is also leveraged to expand its market globally. Digitalization has contributed to both qualitative and quantitative growth of the Nepali film market, agree filmmakers.

It may be noted that the Nepali film industry embarked on its digital journey with the film 'Kagbeni,' directed by Bhusan Dahal. Film production became easier, more organized, and more professional with the introduction of digital technology, according to directors and producers.

There is no longer compulsion of dashing off from one hall to another with boxes of reels to show a movie. Digital technology is ushering in new standards of filmmaking and enabling simultaneous screening of films inside and outside the country. This has cut down the long list of films waiting for their turn to be screened in Kathmandu.

The credit goes to producer Ashok Sharma and his vision to adopt and optimize digital technology to facilitate the distribution of cinema content to cinema halls across the country. He formed a group of exhibitors, distributors, and producers and established Digital Cinema Nepal (DCN) in 2007. “We started off by collaborating with an Indian technology- UFO Server- acknowledging the need for digital technology to bring about positive changes in the perspective of urban Nepali audiences towards Nepali movies and to ensure quality screening.”

According to him, Nepal was the first country in the world to optimize digital technology through and through in filmmaking from production to screening. “Since the market size of the Nepali film is relatively small, there is not much discussion about it,” he bemoaned.

In the past, filmmakers had a hard time attracting urban audiences to the movie halls given the quality issues in screening. The reels of the films brought from mofussil often used to be broken and scratched, thereby resulting in poor screening. Much to the dismay of audiences, movies could not be shown clearly and cleanly in some movie halls with single screens, he said.

Producers and directors were enthused by the advent of digital technology as it boosted the quality as well as the number of Nepali films that could be shown in 175 digital cinema halls of the country at the same time as foreign movies. The servers of the UFO and Cube Digital are currently showing Nepali movies across the world in the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) format.

All technology used in movies is encoded in Nepal at present. Even after the adoption of digital technology, producers, who were freed from reels-era filmmaking, had to go to India for encoding in the initial days. Separate encoding was needed for the DCN and Cube Digital before DCI. Technology has made it easier.

Now, encoding in the single serve can enable worldwide screening simultaneously. Movies such as ‘Mahapurusha,’ ‘Chakka Panja 4,’ and ‘Jari’ were encoded here and screened all over the world, he shared, adding that it resolved the problem of privacy once and for all and spared the producers the hassle of taking movies’ reels abroad for screening.

These days, Nepali movies are not only drawing good returns on investments but also making good profits from the international market. The Nepali film market is growing gradually abroad as the Nepali audiences there started watching Nepali films made from recognized banners. Nepali movies with unique or original stories and artistic presentations are tapping the market in Australia, Japan, the USA, and the UK, among others. Nepali movies once shown in some community halls and restaurants abroad are finding spaces on big screens too.

Prateek Subedi, the Director of Nepal Eleven Entertainment LLC, a company authorized to distribute Nepali movies in the USA, has observed a significant change in the style of screening Nepali movies abroad. In the past, audiences had to individually book an entire hall for a specific hour to screen a movie.

According to Subedi, the ticket fee for movies shown in booked halls would be costlier than the tickets purchased at the box office. "The fee charged for booking and screening the film is almost double the usual fee. The exhibitor has to shoulder management-related responsibilities solely. There is no hassle regarding management if we screen the movie in the box office system," he explained.

He further shared that he was encouraged by the prospects of the Nepali film market in foreign lands, especially after the successful screenings of 'Prem Geet-3', 'Mahapurusha', 'Jari', and other Nepali movies through the box office system, which resulted in significant collections.

Director Ram Babu Gurung expressed his excitement, stating that the distribution rights for foreign screenings of two of his upcoming films have almost been sold. He believes that this success might be attributed to the business done by their previous movies, indicating that films made under their banner are in demand abroad.

Additionally, according to Gurung, Nepali movies are not only expanding their market internationally but also promoting Nepali arts and culture among the Nepali diaspora. The films are contributing to the representation and recognition of Nepali culture on the global stage.