Once upon a time Hindi and English films dominated the movie halls of Nepal. Local artists, producers and directors used to complain that Nepali films were not given a place in the exhibition. The reaction of the halwalas was that they could not give much 'so' because Nepali films were not being released. Now the theaters are dominated by the domestic film industry.

So now it is the turn of Halwalas to complain. They are worried that the audience for Hindi and English films has decreased. However, the entire film sector has felt relieved that the business of Nepali films has increased by half a billion rupees in the current financial year compared to the last financial year.

Looking at the box office data, the Nepali film market has improved significantly in the current fiscal year 2081/82 compared to the previous year in all aspects of ticket sales, income, and influence. Ticket sales of Nepali films are double that of foreign films. In the last two years, films like 'Mahajatra', 'Boksi Ko Ghar', 'Dimag Bada', 'Poorna Bahadur Ko Sarangi', '12 Villages', 'Chakkapanja 5', 'Oonko Sweeter', 'Anjila' managed to gather huge audiences in the halls. 

According to the data of the Film Development Board, the year 2080/81 was dominated by Indian films like 'Animal', 'Jawan', 'Kalki 2898 AD'. In the current year, among the top 10 highest-grossing films, the top five are indigenous, except for the second number 'Pushpa 2'. 

61 indigenous films screened in the current year have earned a total income of 1.51 billion 32 lakh rupees. In the same year, the total income of 78 foreign films has decreased to Rs 86 crore 93 lakh. The gross collection of 90 foreign films that were screened last year was 1.25 billion 61 million rupees, while 45 Nepali films had a total income of 98.49 million rupees. So far this period of the current year, the total income of domestic films is more than that of foreign films by about Rs 64 crore.

In the current year, 5.796 thousand tickets were sold for domestic films, while only 2.6 million tickets were sold for foreign films. As 'Oonko Sweeter', 'Mahabhoj', 'Housefull 5', 'How to Train Your Dragon', 'Ballerina', 'Alio', 'Twenty Eight Years Later' and 'Kubera' are still playing in theaters, this figure may increase by the end of the year.

Last year, a total of 3.4 million tickets were sold for 45 Nepali films, while 3.9 million tickets were sold for 90 foreign films. 'Poorna Bahadur's Sarangi' alone, which is the highest earner of the current year, has sold more than 1.7 lakh tickets and has earned around Rs 47 crore. 

'Pushpa 2', which is in the second place in terms of income, has collected 264 million rupees from Nepal this year. The number of ticket sales of Pushpa 2 was 844,000, while 'Anjila', which sold 818,000 tickets, stood at the sixth position in the box office collection this year. Action thriller '12 Village', directed and produced by actor Viraj Bhatt, earned around Rs 20 crore (gross collection).

Hemraj BC directed film 'Chhakkapanja 5' earned Rs 15 crores and Naveen Chauhan directed 'Oonko Sweeter' earned Rs 11 crores. The film 'Anjila', based on the life of the captain and goalkeeper of the national women's football team, Anjila Tumbapo Subba, has made a 'gross collection' of 88.6 million rupees.

17 to 17 lakh ticket sales

Compared to the previous year, 16 more Swadeshi films were screened in the current year. As the ticket sales increased by 70 percent, the income increased by 528.3 million rupees. Last year, the 'Mahajatra' brought in 532,000 spectators and earned more than 150 million rupees.