Looking back on the history of Nepali cinema, it does not seem that long. If we look at its foundation, it is interesting and political. Cinema in Nepal did not start only for art. Rather, it was to achieve certain political objectives.

King Mahendra started it during the Panchayat period. At that time, art was used to sing the songs of the Panchayat period. In the early days, everything from technicians to artists were brought from India (Bollywood) to make movies. Due to this, the shadow of Bollywood remained strong since the beginning of Nepali cinema.

We should understand the period of about 20 years from 2022 to 2042 as the 'Propaganda Period'. At that time, there were cinemas, but only Hindi films were shown there. The government started making films to attract the audience towards Nepali films and to sing the praises of the Panchayat system. If you watch films like 'Aama' and 'Parivartan', it is clear that the government had a lot of control over cinema making at that time. Whether the artist or producer was a supporter of the system or not determined whether he got work or not.

Meanwhile, there were attempts from the private sector by producing films like 'Maitighar'. However, according to many, this too was made with the money of the wandering king. Therefore, it could not be called completely private. The audience at that time did not have much exposure to the outside world. They used to watch Hindi films. When one or two Nepali films were released in a year, the audience started getting excited just by hearing their own language spoken.

One aspect of Nepali cinema is not only within Nepal. Nepali speakers living in places like Darjeeling, Sikkim and Dehradun had started making films for their identity. Famous films like 'Kusume Rumal' and 'Samjhana' were made by Nepali makers there. Those stories represented the Nepali society outside Nepal, but those stories did not exactly match the real society inside Nepal. However, Nepali audiences liked those films because they were tied to the same rope of language and culture. The makers who made those films were trained in Bollywood. They established the basic structure and ideas of cinema in Nepal, which was completely based on the Bollywood 'formula'.

After the political change in 2046, an open economy came to Nepal. Panchayat control was loosened and the government introduced policies such as tax incentives. This attracted private investors, the number of cinema halls increased, and a situation arose for films to be shown.

Two things played a big role during this time – technology and passports. After liberalization, Nepalis could easily travel abroad with a passport. Those who went abroad saw the level of cinema and making there. When they returned, they started asking – why is our cinema like this? On the other hand, digitalization started in technology from VHS to CDs and DVDs. This gave both makers and viewers access to movies from different countries of the world.

My own journey also began at this time. I was in journalism and used to watch movies from all over the world in film clubs. Watching French, German, Russian and Indian parallel cinema, I realized that our cinema does not speak our society. The ‘exploitative landlords’ or ‘laborers’ revolt’ shown in ours were just a copy of the story of industrial India, while the character of our society was different.

When I thought of making ‘Numaphung’, it was like a rebellion against the formula films of the time. Filmmakers of that time considered Bollywood as a ‘school’. But I wanted to tell the story of my Limbu community. Initially, no one wanted to invest money, because no one believed that such a film would work. Finally, we made the film for about 28 lakhs with the help of our own community and a Lahore friend.

When the film was released, the 'big people' in the cinema industry said - this is not a film, it is a documentary . Because here we always had the habit of watching films of the same style . But 'Numaphung' created a 'debate' . This film went to international festivals and showed the way that Nepali cinema can also tell its own story in its own style . Then films like 'Loot' came and slowly we started coming out of the shadow of Bollywood . Stories came with their own identity . Genres started separating in Nepali cinema too .

We call Nepali film an 'industry', but I think we are not yet an 'industry' . Our production process is always in loss . If we look at the statistics, this becomes clear . About 100 films are made every year and if we assume the average investment of a film is 1.5 crores, it costs about 1.5 billion rupees . But, the total annual earnings are not even 500 million. Only 3-4 films are successful in a year.

How can a sector that loses one billion rupees annually be an industry? There is no systematic conspiracy to raise investment in our country. In Hollywood, producers do not invest money from their own pockets, they manage the money by selling 'rights'. But in our country, there is no ecosystem of where the money comes from and where it goes. The number of halls was 400 yesterday, today there are not even 150. In such a situation, if we do not find new ways to secure investment, this sector will always be in short supply.

The recent changes in Nepali cinema are also in acting. The acting of earlier Nepali cinema seemed very unnatural and dramatic. But recently, actors who came from theater have changed it. There are three main trends in acting in our country. Rasa Padhati, which is a traditional style that came from Navaras. Shakespearean theater, which is a style that emphasizes more drama and dialogue. Stanislavsky's schooling, which is natural and character-driven acting.

Shadows of all three trends can be seen in the acting of actors like Saugat Malla, Dayahang Rai and Bipin Karki. Now, acting has become 'live in the moment' and natural, but this alone is difficult to make an impact in the global market. We still lack teachers who teach acting and schools that use new techniques.

The biggest challenge today is the development of technology and the changing interests of people. We are now in the era of 'TikTokization'. The ability to focus on people has decreased to just 15 seconds. Yesterday, people used to watch three-hour films, but today they find two hours too long. Most young people have started watching films by forwarding them at 1.5 speed. In such a time, keeping the audience in the theater for two and a half hours is like winning a war. If the pace of the film slows down even a little, the audience loses patience. So now we must pay attention to this new reality when writing scripts, acting, and using technology.

We must also understand the trend of the global market. Right now, the South Korean film industry is in big trouble. Their budgets have increased dramatically from 3-5 million to 20-30 million dollars due to platforms like Netflix. But after the pandemic, the growth rate has decreased and now they have neither been able to remain global, nor have the domestic market been able to support them.

On the other hand, there has been a big wave of 'micro-series' in China. Vertical cinema watched on mobile, which is one minute long and you have to pay after watching the first few minutes. Its market has now reached almost 7 billion dollars, which is bigger than the main market of Chinese cinema. What this shows is that technology is completely changing the nature of cinema.

In the future, we must interact with AI. AI has started doing everything from writing scripts to making videos. It also threatens to take many jobs, which has led to a movement in Hollywood. But we should not ban it, but think about how to use it ethically.

Nepali cinema can no longer rely solely on theaters. Streaming platforms and media like YouTube should be developed as a means of raising investment. It is necessary to create a mechanism to reduce the risk of money being returned through other means even if the film 'flops' in theaters.

Nepali cinema has escaped the influence of Bollywood, but now it has to fight global technology and the changing psychology of the audience. Cinema never dies, but its form changes. Only if we master our storytelling style and embrace technology will the future of Nepali cinema be secure. Otherwise, we are sure to fall into even more serious trouble.

Another aspect of Nepali cinema that cannot be ignored is its presence in the international world. Nepali cinema has gained increasing acceptance in the international world. Nepalis being part of the jury at international film festivals like Berlin can be considered a great achievement. It is even said that the next decade will be the decade of Nepali cinema. Despite the increasing international attention, our internal preparations still do not seem sufficient. Reaching international networks and global streaming is a good thing, but the main basis for the survival of Nepali cinema depends on the kind of cinema we make at home.