The film 'Kumari', which is set to release next Friday, is meaningful in many ways for Dinesh Raut. In the film, he will be bringing Abhishek Khadka, who is in his 20s, and Aakriti Rajbhandari, who is also in the same age group, on the big screen for the first time.
'A film doesn't work only with multi-stars,' director Dinesh Raut was taught a harsh lesson by the film 'Mahabhoj'. Even the dazzling presence of Dayahang Rai, Aryan Sigdel and Khagendra Lamichhane on the silver screen could not attract the audience. The film's box office business left him disappointed.
Dinesh, who has been enjoying multi-starrer since 'Pujaar Sarki', put a complete stop to this belief with his second film. After that, he changed not only his face but also the generation in the film. That is why 'Kumari', which is being prepared for release from next Friday, is meaningful for Dinesh in many ways. In the film, he is presenting Abhishek Khadka, who is in his 20s, and Aakriti Rajbhandari, who is of the same age group, on the big screen for the first time. 'There has been a drought of new faces in the Nepali film industry for a long time. It has been 10 years since Pradeep Khadka and Anmol KC were established,' says Dinesh, 'I wanted to bring a new face to the film industry that revolves around the same face.'
For Dinesh, the new face Abhishek and Aakriti seen in Kumari are the product of that feeling. Dinesh's statement also raised another question - so the face was not only asked for by the story? 'Yes, it was asked for by the story,' adds Dinesh. In Nepali films, even the most popular faces above 40 are transformed into characters around 20 in films. Actors who left college years ago are also seen in films wearing school uniforms and acting in classrooms. The audience can easily guess how unbelievable and awkward it looks. ‘I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to create trust in the story. I wanted a face that was new to the audience and suited the character perfectly,’ says Dinesh. Abhishek and Aakriti met during the
audition. They were selected. But how easy was it to work with an established actor? ‘When working with an established actor, it feels like the director is given responsibility, but when working with a newcomer, all the weight falls on the director’s shoulders. Since the actors are completely dependent on the director, it was a big challenge to get their work done,’ says Dinesh honestly. But Dinesh also has a different joy in working with new artists. ‘The Gen-G generation’s way of thinking, understanding and reacting is very different from our generation. What we considered great in our time, seems very normal to today’s generation,’ says Dinesh.
They are expressing emotions in a different way than Dinesh’s generation. ‘During the workshop, Abhishek took an emotional scene as normal. I was shocked to see that,’ says Dinesh.
Dinesh, who was lost in the romantic stories of love, was expressing himself on social issues through ‘Prasad’ and ‘Prakash’. But with ‘Kumari’, he caught the rhythm of love in his film. ‘But this time’s love story is not as incredible as before,’ says Dinesh with introspection. Looking back at films like ‘I Am Sorry’, ‘November Rain’, ‘Classic’, he sometimes thinks, ‘Are these like real life?’ Dinesh now feels that films should be a reflection of human life and that it should be natural. And looking back through today’s lens, he agrees that those films could have been even better. ‘At that time, I liked the more literary and dramatic dialogues, but now I laugh when I hear them,’ he adds.
From ‘Prasad’, Dinesh was drawn to stories that were closer to life. It was by drawing him in that way that he told the dark stories of characters like Prakash from Jumla.
However, in ‘Prasad’ and ‘Prakash’, he had to face not only the praise of the audience, but also harsh criticism from the critics. In ‘Prasad’, the fact that the characters adopted a child born after rape as Prasad was considered flawed by experts and critics. He was surrounded by critical questions about the attack on the quota system in 'Prakash'. His film 'Pujaar Sarki' achieved commercial success. But this film could not escape criticism along with praise. There was also a lot of disagreement and criticism regarding the role of the film against the caste system through scriptures. Dinesh is confident that not only praise, but criticism also plays an important role in the 'growth' of a filmmaker. 'I never rejected criticism. I welcomed and accepted it,' says Dinesh.
His previous films also have self-discipline. For example, Dinesh was feeling that he was being creatively guided by the market. How can a director be honest like that? He thought. 'If I am a creator but the market is only guiding me, then I feel that I am cheating myself somewhere or the other,' says Dinesh, ruthlessly to himself.
Ultimately, that feeling led him to decide to work according to the demands of the story rather than the market. ‘Kumari is a step after that decision,’ says Dinesh. The name Jhatt seems to be close to the famous custom prevalent in the Newar community. But Dinesh claims, ‘This film has no connection with the ‘Kumari custom’ of Newar culture.’
According to him, the main theme of this film is the ‘hipocracy’ or hypocrisy prevalent in urban society. In our society, people look one thing from the outside but are different inside. ‘People from urban society in particular try to show themselves as very modern and transformative, but when the same thing is applied to their personal lives, they revert to conservative thinking,’ Dinesh assesses.
How do people who talk about ideals behave in practical life? Dinesh says that the answer to this question is the story of the film. Now how meaningful is that answer, how poetic and artistic is it? How close to life is it? That will have to wait until the film's release.
