'The state has failed to understand that film is a benign power, it should work on human resources for the development of this power, and policies should be brought in the same way' - director Manoj Pandit
Even in the budget brought by the government this time, the film sector has been neglected. In the 2082/083 budget presented by Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel in Parliament on Thursday, only the topic of encouraging the private sector to build indoor and outdoor studios for domestic and foreign film shooting is included. However, filmmakers complain that the government has failed to understand the benign power of the film sector as no budget has been allocated for it.
Director Manoj Pandit is of the opinion that the Nepali film industry is being neglected in the budget because the government does not understand the importance of the film sector. 'The state has not understood that film is a benign power, it should work on human resources for the development of this power, and the policy should be brought in the same way . The state does not understand that film is a cultural product. If that happens, there would be an investment in it . The state is of the opinion that if a studio is built, the film will develop,' Pandit said.
When the state includes the slogan of studio construction in the budget for years, it is clear that the state does not understand the importance of this sector, says Pandit. 'This budget has made it clear that the film is only for the state . Politicians did not understand the importance of the film. Whatever government comes, Nepali films are included in limited points in every budget . Now it is a heart-wrenching way for the Nepali film industry to expect from the state,' Pandit added.
director Nischal Basnet Sarkar is of the opinion that if the film sector is always covered in limited points, it will not contribute much to the development of the film sector . 'The government is always limiting the film sector to one point. The same thing happened in the previous year too . If there was a budget that would make this sector profitable, something would have come. But, no one thought like that. It seems that the budget is included in the budget only to say that the film sector should not be included in the budget,' Basnet said, 'How is our industry developing in particular ? The government should have invested knowing where our presence is in the international market. If there is a study on where the investment is beneficial to the country and the filmmakers, the budget would have come in the same way. It should have been said that the country can benefit from this area.'
As Nischal said, the domestic market of Nepali films expanded by 46 crores this year. While 'Poorna Bahadur Ko Sarangi' did a business of 46 crores, many films reached the international market . For the past few years, Nepali films have been making a strong presence in the international market. Some of the films participated in the world's leading prestigious film festivals, won awards, and theatrical performances of Nepali films in the halls of international markets also started. Recently, 'The Way to the Village' scheduled a UK theatrical release .
However, the budget brought by the government has not brought much hope to improve the market expansion of this sector, says KP Pathak, president of Nepal International Film Festival 'Nif'. 'The same way the film act came, the program also came in the same way. Specially, programs should have come for creativity, movies should have come for market, national and international business. It came across as very abstract . The movie industry, a business of billions, has been limited to one point. But there is no budget on that point as well . Is there a budget speech without a budget? Questioning, Pathak said, "The film sector has become an unproductive sector for the state". The state did not feel the investment in it. The state did not give but only regulated.'
Sujit Bidari, the director of 'Aina Jhyalko Putli', also argues that the budget has not addressed the urgent issues of the film sector. "They just mentioned without finding anything to explain their feelings, it doesn't make any sense." If the intention was good, there were many issues to be addressed . Something or the other was included . The government is not paying attention to the film,' Bidari said, 'Film is a matter of Soundarya Chet . Where is this government's priority? The film sector has always been neglected due to lack of talent among politicians.'
director Naveen Subba says that although an indoor shooting studio is urgently needed for the film industry, the budget has not yielded any concrete results. "Especially for Nepali films, we need a studio that can be set up as a slum within the filming location. From AI to all kinds of tech-friendly studios are required . However, outdoor is not very necessary . There has been talk of a studio for a long time, but no specific results have been seen,' Subba said, 'This studio has been talked about since time immemorial, but no significant results have been seen. Studio construction is being inaugurated but not completed. Completion doesn't come in the budget . The budget had to be set aside for a certain period of time.'
