A hero who has been creating theater for 23 years

The walls on both sides of the room are incomplete and two pillars are also incomplete. How could the roof of the house be supported on two types of pillars, Agla-Hocha? Apart from the props placed inside the room, the other structure looks incomplete. The front door is not even complete, the structure of the door is only half. Why is this set of

drama 'Marriage Proposal' incomplete? The set designer Hum BC has a great answer, "The story of the play is incomplete, so we made the set also incomplete." Recently, in the 'Marriage Proposal' staged in Gurukul, the story about the marriage proposal was shown and the changes in some characters after the proposal were shown. Although the drama satirizes various topics, the main story revolves around the marriage proposal. In no scene is the marriage shown after the proposal, so Hume says that the set was constructed incompletely according to the story of the play. The set of the play reflects Hume's maturity, experience and knowledge. He is the only such designer, who has been making sets continuously for 23 years.

This year more than 50 plays were staged in Nepal. He produced 30 drama sets out of them. Now Hum doesn't even need a 3D design to build a set. As soon as he hears the theme of the play, the set can be built in his mind, he works to embody it on the stage. In 'Marriage Proposal', directors Sangeet Sapkota and Ashish Ghimire narrated the theme of the play to Hum. The story of the play moves forward with a proposal of marriage in the upper house of the Thakuri family. The same props and designs came to Hume's mind as he realized that the play was a bit old-fashioned. And, within a week, the set of the play was made. He builds the set according to the plot of the play, an important lesson Hume believes in design. Hum has already been booked for a play to be performed in August, and the work offer till October has kept him busy.

Some give Hum a set dummy, some only tell the story. The same number of people blindly believe in him for the set. Some meet him at the initial stage of drama production and some towards the final stage. From Anup Baral's 'Euta Sapnako Awasan' to Praveen Khatiwada's 'Andhveg', Hum built the sets of all the plays. The final scene in 'Andhveg' had the lead character breaking down the dang door. After much brainstorming, he finally came up with a way to break down the door. The door was to be hung in that scene and broken down with one stick. When the main character breaks the door with a loud noise in the last scene, which has been built with a sledgehammer after a long time, it creates a big wave in the audience. The set of 'Andhaveg' had two floors, the scene of Pashupati in the play was to be shown and also the burning scene was to be shown from a height. He told that a two-story set was built on the stage for that. To break the story, Hum is busy working on sets and other furniture. However, he has chosen theater as his main career. Theater became the way to lead my life for 20/22 years. I didn't go into acting, set building has given me a basis for living," he says. He has considered making sets honestly as his main religion. How many plays flopped in front of his eyes, he did not get paid from such plays. Why is set construction important? Drama is a medium of expression. That expression can be conveyed to the audience with the set, lights, props and sound. As soon as the eye meets the set, it must carry the small significance of the story of the play. The set is an integral part of the play," he said while answering the question.

Lately, the spree of building expensive sets has started. 8 lakhs was spent on the set of 'Euta Sapnako Awasan'. He says that the cost of construction has increased as the material for making home sets has become more expensive. One thing is that even when the director chooses the story, he asks for a heavy set. Making a set according to the story is also expensive. Why is it expensive? Today, the price of a ply, which was 22 years ago, has now skyrocketed. Now the set is heavy due to the cost of materials required for making the set," said Hum.

is not a big business for theater like film. However, the reckless spending on set building has increased, 'Euta Sapna Aasan' being a glaring example of this. Hume argues that he builds expensive sets according to the needs of the story. The set design is required by the story. A good director allocates its expenses from the beginning,' says Hum, 'We had a discussion with Govind Parajuli, the producer of Euta Sapna Awasan, before designing the set of the play.'

Hume has already gained experience in building expensive sets. In the past, the sets made in 'Kismisko Biskun', 'Sandajuko Mahabharata', 'Charumati', 'Thangla' etc. were heavy. Hum built heavy sets for many of the Gurukul's dramas. From 'Nyayapremi', 'Khariko Ghero', 'Karnali Dakkhin Bagdo Cha' to 'Suina Karnalika', he made magnificent sets. In 'Suina Karnalika' Tuin was made. At the drama festival, Iranian artists brought an iron motor and made tuin using it. The drama was to show that Karnali products were transported through Tuin. Then there was a long technical glitch.

Not only Gurukul, but also most of the sets of Mandla are made by Hum. Some time ago, Hum got much appreciation for the set he built for Mandla's play 'Euta Sapnako Awasan'. The play also had a two-story set. In the corner of the first floor were the character bedrooms of Roy and Dia Maske. Originally there was no plan to put pillars to support the roof of the room. However, as the wood became heavy, there was a technical problem to place the pole there. He was given a '3D' design by director Baral. According to the same design, making the set became challenging.

It's hard to work with inch-by-inch measurements. It is easy to think and design by yourself. However, this is how the final design comes, it is challenging to work like that,' Hum shared his experience. Set designers have other woes. According to Hume, the set are his children, whom he creates with great effort. A set that takes one to two weeks to live on stage for a month. Hume feels the chill of the children leaving the place every time he destroys it. He wants to see the design on stage, from every prop to the set that he has built with his own hands. However, it is unlikely that the same set will always remain on stage.

When breaking the set, chills enter the mind. However, it seems that it is not always emotional,'' he said while looking at the set of marriage proposal, 'but I like to keep my creations always. My set is in pictures, videos or in mind. But for me, I still feel that I would not have been able to destroy it. Hum has worked with young artists from his mentor Birendra Hamal to senior artists Harihar Sharma, Sunil Pokharel, Anup Baral. 90 percent of the dramas made in the capital have Hum's hands.

Hum wanted to become a folk singer when he was young, it was a dream from his childhood. Spent 6 years in Dohri Sanjhan, also sang songs in three albums. It was around 2058/059, but the album never came out. And stopped singing. Born in Rampur of Palpa, Hum entered Kathmandu during the crisis. When he arrived in Kathmandu after being displaced, he immediately joined the double evening. But after seeing no future in singing, Arjun started moving towards drama through BC. And learned acting from Birendra Hamal.

At the same time, director Hamal encouraged Hum to work on the set, he learned woodworking through Palpa and worked on the set. After the end of the play, the money was distributed equally to everyone on the last day. Actors acting on the stage are getting the same money. After that, Hum felt in his heart - 'Brother, you don't eat by acting, stay on the set.' I wasn't going to get that money by acting. "You need money to live in Kathmandu," says Hum. He has also acted in some small roles in films like 'Talkjung vs. Tulke', 'Pashupati Prasad', 'Prakash'. However, Hum says that he does not want to act.

'Acting doesn't bother me. That's why I don't walk to auditions. It seems as if God has sent you to bite the bullet all your life. I enjoy on the set, I earn on the set," Hum said in a serious tone, "I enjoy the set. As long as I live, I enjoy working on the set. He also gained experience in the art of film. However, in his experience, he says that Nepali film directors do not understand art direction and its importance. It is not the art director's job to put rice and tea. A frame has to be hung on the wall, it is not art direction, he said, "The day the director understands the importance of art in Nepali films and only the art director is important." An art director can understand everything from script, DOP and plan with vision. There is more respect in theater than in film.' In

set construction, Hume has not produced many disciples. There are few people who have made set building a career for a long time like him. So he is happy to see new faces in the field. There are not many new faces in set design even for so long. How many of those who came went to acting. However, even now I don't see the need for set building in others. It's hard work too, gets dusty. set Creating a

requires knowing all shapes and sizes. Here, everyone has to learn acting and become an actor,' said Hum, 'I have to work on the set till my last breath.' Hum has closely watched the changes in the theater during this 23-year journey. That's why he highly appreciates yesterday's play. He says, 'Yesterday's dramas were good, but the director-actors were missing. He chose the same story. However, I think that the current stage is superficial. When the 3-month, 6-month course started - now any artist. What actually happens in three months?'