About two decades ago, actor Dayahang Rai used to stand in the courtyard of the theater and watch Nepali films. No timely story, no acting skills. At that time, sitting in a group, they would gossip and disagree for hours about the ongoing film. The product of that disagreement was their appearance in the film.

The audience was losing interest in Nepali films, the filmmakers were becoming disappointed. The moment when the film is losing credibility along with the business, it has become a crisis period for the filmmakers. At that time, the movie 'Loot', directed by Nischal Basnet, appeared on the screen as a beacon of hope. Released 13 years ago, this film broke many conventions along with good business.

The film's characters seemed so natural to the viewers who were close to the story that they were familiar. From the same movie, different faces of the theater started appearing on the big screen like a new paluva.

In Loot, we needed actors who could understand the story and were ready to experiment. Who could really live the character. That possibility was only with the colorists,'' director Basnet remembers, 'if we worked together with them, it was expected that a different kind of result would come. The hard work done by all the artists gave good results.' 

Even before that, the presence of color workers was not present in the film. A number of artists, including artist Harihar Sharma, were active in both film and theatre. Even before 'Loot' and in 'Kagbeni', 'Sano Sansar', 'Dasdhunga', 'Badhashala', the presence of Dayahang Rai, Karm, Diya Maske, Sougat Malla, Khagendra Lamichhane was seen. But their influence became stronger with 'loot'. Subsequent films like 'Kabaddi', 'Talakjung vs. Tulke' and 'Pashupati Prasad' continued the original story and natural acting with some distinct flavours, and those distinct flavors were approved by the audience. 

Nepali film industry has been dominated by actors from theater backgrounds for about a decade and a half. Sougat Malla, Dayahang Rai, Bipin Karki, Khagendra Lamichhane, Vijay Baral, Praveen Khatiwada, Karm, Rabindrasingh Banian, Nazir Hussain, Dia Maske, Srijan Subba, Laxmi Bardeva, Buddhi Tamang, Maotse Gurung, Bholaraj Sapkota, Divyadev Kamalmani Nepal, Kameshwar Chaurasia, Sarita Giri, Pashupati Rai and many other actors in Nepali films. It is a recurring face.

Not only were these faces repeated, they left a distinct impact on the film. Along with theater actors, new directors were also born with new ideas and stories in films. Actor Dayahang believes that the continuation of their efforts to change the narrative collectively is the only change seen in Nepali films so far. It took us 7 years to become an example ourselves. And 10 years to establish,” he estimates. Even in the last generation, those who are doing film work are preferred by the filmmakers. 

What changes came with the collective presence of theater actors in the film? "First the faces came, then the background and the story," says Dayahang, "Now the style needs to come." Now with a different face, the presence of stories is stronger along with the community. According to

actor Vijay Baral, actors from theater background have an impact on films not only in Nepal, but all over the world. All over the world, the movies that have the most characters are the most popular. Actors from either theatrical backgrounds appear. Either those who went from the cinema to the theater and came back to the cinema. Looking at the world market, the theater itself is changing the atmosphere," he says.

Despite not having a stage background, actress Richa Sharma has worked in several films with theater faces. I got a chance to learn a lot while working with them. While working with Daya, Khagendras who came from the stage, I realized that I had to study and get training. Even today I am impressed when I work with them,' says Richa. 

Colorist Sunil Pokharel feels proud when he sees the actors leading the film. Pokharel, who has taught acting to many artists including Sougat, Dayahang, Bipin, claims, 'The practice in Nepali theater helped to change the cinema as well.' Sunil does not see this process as wrong. "After practicing on stage for some time, I don't see anything bad when I go to the cinema. At least there is a good schooling,” he says. Actor Lamichhane says that schooling is necessary. It was proved that people who come from good practice can do better. It is also important to come from schooling," he says.

Looking at the past decade and a half, Khagendra also experienced a change in Nepali films, the change in his acting style. Moreover, the mixed society, its linguists were seen as the beauty of the film. He believes that the style of the maker and the acting process of the actors play a big role in this. However, he does not accept the fact that only the actors who came from the stage have changed in acting. "There are many actors who came from outside the stage, but made themselves through hard work," says Lamichhane.

Actors who came from the theater took the lead in acting in the film industry. But lately they are not free from criticism. Dayahang's acting diversity is now being questioned. The audience complains that the quality is decreasing with the increase in the number of films. Not only pity, lately there have been complaints about the lack of variety in the work of many repetitive faces. Why? Actor Sarita Giri worries, "Friends became so busy with films that diversity stopped coming in acting." Effort became less visible. It is sad.' 

They also have another charge on top of that. Film director Naveen Subba keeps repeating, 'The actors who came to the film from the stage spoiled the performance of the film.'