Kathmandu: Nepali filmmakers have been unable to release their movies for the past year owing to the covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. A handful of films were released after the first lockdown, but none performed well as expected. Reportedly, the cine industry incurred a loss of over Rs.160 million due to the pandemic.
Although full-length feature movies have not been released during the lockdown, a few short films released recently on YouTube are worth watching. Here are five of them that you should watch.
Savadhan
Directed by Dipendra Lama, the movie tells the story of Meena, a schoolgirl who is abused by one of her close relatives. When Meena tells it to her mother, she doesn’t believe it and suppresses her voice. But later, her parents decide to investigate the case and file a police report. The movie attempts to raise awareness regarding the laws on child abuse and harassment.
Savadhan features actors Barsha Raut, Kabya Adhikari, Prabin Khatiwada, Arjesh Regmi, Anita Basnet and Bhupendra Singh Dhami.
Baa
The film depicts the story of a daughter-in-law who is frustrated with caring for her old father-in-law and doing household chores. To settle the issue, the daughter-in-law pressurizes her husband to take the father to a retirement home. They finally take the father to an old-age home, and when they are almost about to leave him, there comes a twist in the plot that makes the couple realize their wrongdoing.
Directed by Uttam Sanjel, Baa stars Madan Krishna Shrestha, Nir Shah, Loonibha Tuladhar, Yaman Shrestha and Srijana Bhandari Dhakal.
Man Bar
The movie portrays the story of a live-in couple who lives together. The couple have a dispute and their relationship takes a tragic turn after the girl tells the boy about her pregnancy. The dialogue between them exposes the selfish nature of the boy who doesn’t want his partner to get pregnant.
Man Bar is directed by Jiwan Shahi, and Koshish Chhetri and Surakshya Panta are the lead actors of the short movie.
Maya’s Husk Husband
Jyoti Simha Thakuri is the director and cinematographer of the short movie that features Sarita Giri, Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Sagun Simha, and Yousa Karki. The story is set in a village where a woman gets up early in the morning and gathers with other women in a padheri ( public water tap) to fill water). The women also gossip about their families and neighbors. Later, they look after other household works, from tidying up their children to collecting fodder.
The lead character Maya suffers from uterine prolapse, but she is uncomfortable sharing it with her husband Sundare. And one day, when she shares it with him, she is persecuted by him instead of receiving more care and attention.
Sambandhak
Sambandhak by Siddhartha Pudasaini is the story of two brothers and a sister. Neha, the sister in the family, wishes to go abroad for her studies, but both of the brothers do not support her because they highly depend on her. The movie sheds light on the sacrifices a female makes for her family.
The movie features Mira Khadka, Sandesh Shakya, Simanta Pudasaini, Siddhanta Pudasaini and Aakanshya G.C.
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