They wanted us to tell stories that weren't printed in magazines, online. Let's bring that story to the big screen. So that the cold relationship between Pahade and Madhesi will be covered with warmth. Let the audience feel the pain of apartheid, caste discrimination and sexual and minority communities, and change the attitude towards those issues.

The response received after the premiere of 'Pooja Sir' at the prestigious Venice Film Festival has given director Deepak Rauniar, the film's writer and actress Asha Magrati a sense of relief for raising these issues. This film of the thriller genre, which was made commercially, has broken the comment that one can reach the world market only by making an art house film. Female lead In this film, apartheid, sexual and minority communities, mountain Madhesh and caste issues are mixed in the story.

Asha and I come from two different communities. The story we made in the setting of Janakpur was that if we did not tell a story on this subject, no one would tell it immediately. A bridge is needed to connect the hills and Madhesh. After the Madhesh movement, there was a kind of coldness between these two communities. We felt it was important to make a film to break that coldness, to tear apart discrimination,' Deepak said, 'To see someone Indian as soon as you see black is to not know Madhesi people, not to understand them. So we decided to make a film to make people think about these things. How can a case look different when there is a woman cop. The themes were what might be different when women's perspectives were added to the same research. That's why I felt that the story of this film should be told soon.'  Deepak and Asha, who are also a

couple, wanted to easily explain serious topics to the audience by telling stories. "We created Pooja's character so that a person's life cannot be viewed with one eye. Pooja is a queer woman, a policeman. Above it are hills. We combined different definitions of the same person," Deepak said. "We prefer to use something new in every film. We weren't going to make it to the festival by making a slow, art house film. We wanted more and more viewers to watch our films and understand the story easily. A genre in which the audience has a thrill experience, they can also connect in the story.' 

When 'Highway' premiered in Berlin 12 years ago, director Rauniar was in doubt whether the audience would come or not. At that time, the audience watched 'Highway' with great interest, and the response was equally good. A theatrical release was released in Australia along with Nepal, the film was also sold on television. Directed by him, 'Seto Surya' was theatrically released in many theaters in America, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland. Because of that old impression, the rights of 'Pooja Sir' film were bought by reputed companies before the Venice premiere. 

ARP Selection has bought the distribution rights for the film for France, Raunier said. This company, which distributed Angelina Jolie's film 'Maria' in Venice, has distributed films like 'Train to Busan' and 'Past Live'. Trigon Films has also bought the distribution rights for Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The Asia premiere of 'Pooja, Sir' is also happening in Busan. The film has already received invitations from many festivals until next June.

Rauniar feels that the reach of his film to the world market and the significant presence of other Nepali films has strengthened the hold of Nepali films in the international market. However, Naveen Subba's 'Numafung' and Chiring Ritar Sherpa's 'Mukundo' had already found their way to the world market. However, after these two films, Nepali films that reached the world market were not being made. 

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When Rauniyar's film took over Berlin in 2012, Nepali films gradually started making appearances at the world's top festivals. Until 'Highway' premiered in Berlin, a Nepali film had never premiered at the world's top (A-list) film festival. However, even if we look only at the period since last year, he says that the presence of Nepali films in the international market is getting stronger. Fidel Devkota's film was in Venice last year. Naveen Subba's film was in Toronto, Sambala reached Berlin. Now we are in Venice," he said. 

Rauniar says that the market for Nepali films has been expanding in these 12 years. Hollywood stars from Brad Pitt to Angelina Jolie were in Venice. For the film industry, these festivals are like the World Cup. The eyes of the world are on these festivals. The exposure of Nepali films will increase when such festivals are reached. 

Just like building a house, each brick is important. Similarly, from 'Highway' to 'Pooja, Sir', the Nepali film market has become much wider. The presence of our film has also become very big," he said. "I was reading the news that Anurag Kashyap and Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be attending the premiere of Sambala. If our presence in the world market was not good, they would not have taken their time to come to Nepal.' With the increase in the reach of Nepali films in the world market, Deepak has started to imagine, 'One day it will come, where the distributors of the world will fight for the distribution rights of Nepali films.' 

After the success of 'Seto Surya', from New York Times to BBC published reviews of the film and listed Deepak as a new director. The reach of the film and the achievements of the director will increase the market of the Nepali film sector. Also, employment increased. Many foreign filmmakers would come to Nepal to watch and shoot Nepali films that have reached the world market.

Deepak's friend recently shot the film 'The Seamless' in Nepal after seeing pictures of 'Pooja, Sir', which premiered at Cannes. Nepali actors also acted in the film. In this way, shooting a film not only creates employment, but also promotes tourism. This film reached the world market and increased the identity of the country. 

How do others know Iran today? Iran is known for its good movies. Like how many cultures of Nepal are influenced by Bollywood movies. From music to mehendi in wedding celebrations, culture has come from Bollywood," Deepak said. "Films have the power to transform society. That is why every country is investing a lot in films. In this way, a large market can be created even by exporting culture. The film plays many roles in making its citizens think differently, how to change their perspective, and teach them to ask questions.' 

The reach of Nepali films in the world market fluctuates. After 'Numafung' and 'Mukundo', the gap between films reaching the world market became long. In 2015 came Meen Bham's 'Kaalo Pothi', in 2016 Deepak made 'Seto Surya'. Since then the presence in the international market was almost nil. However, that gap was filled by two films of last year (Gaon Ina Bato, Rato Suitkesh). Now it is expected from the films of Avinashvikram Shah, Pooja Gurung and Vibhushan Basnet. Vinod Paudel's film is being produced. Theatrical market, which was affected by Covid, is also slowly recovering. "They are seeing that we can also tell stories in the world market," said Deepak. 

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A small video of the Venice premiere of 'Pooja Sir' is currently trending on social media. In the video, director Rauniyar's eyes tear up as the audience stands up and applauds. In its background is the struggle of making a film. While making 'Pooja Sir', the film's writer and lead actress Asha got cancer. After learning that the lead actress was battling cancer, the big producer pulled out of the project thinking that the film would not be made. They also had the problem of lack of budget. Completed the film with great sadness and friends. They did not think that it would take 8 years to become a

'Pooja, Sir'. After 'Seto Surya', they started making this film. The film had a budget of 1.5 million dollars. While preparing to make the film, the shooting had to be canceled when the covid started appearing all over the world. The owner of American Halls, who was the producer of the film, shrugged it off. 

In 2022, Gograh returned to New York after finishing pre-production while doing workshops. Then Asha got cancer while preparing to come for the shooting of the film. It was difficult to shake my head when I was going to America to get all the materials for the film. When we reached Doha airport, our throat seemed to be swollen," says Asha, "the doctor who advised us told us to go to the hospital. The doctor immediately said to cancel the trip to Nepal. However, even then it was not known what happened. Hospital reports showed that I had three types of cancer.' 

The shoot had to be canceled when it was discovered that he had cancer. Almost a year passed in cancer treatment. Meanwhile, Asha's father passed away. Then he came to Nepal for filming in April 2023. Meanwhile, the producers parted ways as they could not make the film due to another battle with cancer. The two grants that had been fixed for the film were withdrawn. Even when Goji was empty, this couple took the decision to film, gathered courage and came to Nepal.

They had to film anyway. Meanwhile, some friends joined. Dr. Pratap Das, Neeraj Shrestha and Poorna Baraili raised their hands. Rambabu Gurung from Bansuri Productions supported him. With the strength of these four friends, I gathered the courage to shoot the film. Many artists said that they don't need to pay a lot now, a little is enough. An actor like Dayahang encouraged me to make a film first without worrying about money. The crew also helped by saying the same. We filmed on the basis of that. With everyone's support, we made the film at the cost and level we thought," says Deepak, "Nepal Police Department also helped. The local police helped. Even in places where there is flooding in July, the environment supported us. It didn't even rain at that time. If there was a flood, everything would have drowned.' 

Since receiving the news of cancer, Asha has strengthened her self-confidence. She did not cry even when her father passed away. If I cry, my 'immune power' is weak. I shouldn't cry. It was said that we should complete our project after winning cancer,'' Asha narrated her cancer battle. Asha struggled a lot while acting while taking medicine during the shoot. The police wanted to work on spoken language, to work deeper on their physical movements. However, the effect of the medicine was visible in the filming.