The history of Nepali movie industry is around 60 years long. Although, it is not that big of an industry but it has significant impact within the country’s population. Nepali movies industry is also referred as “Kollywood” which is similar in context of Tamil movie industry. The primary center for Kollywood is Kathmandu. Besides Kathmandu, there are various other location like Pokhara, Biratnagar, Chitwan where the multiplex has been created to show nepali movie. The advancement on technology helps the movie creator to build new content for showcasing. It is estimated that Rs 1.65 billion is the worth of Nepali film market which produce around 100 movie a year which will further increase in the coming years.
History
Talking about the first film of Nepal, it was D.B. Pariyar's Satya Harishchandra, which was the first Nepali-language movie to be shot which was released on 14 September 1951. Although it was Nepali movie but it was produced in Kolkota, India. The first movie produced in Nepal was Aama which was released on 7 October 1964 was produced the government of Nepal. The first film to be produced under a private banner was Maitighar, which was released at the end of 1966.The first 25 years of the industry was not so good as there was not around 25 feature films developed in that time frame but it increases gradually in 1980’s. With the commercial success of movies like Kusume Rumal, Saino, Koseli, Lahure, Kanchhi the industry saw the rise of various actors like Bhuwan KC, Rajesh Hamal, Shiva Shrestha, Karishma Manandhar, Gauri Malla and so on. With the commercial success, the rapid growth of movie production happened in early 90’s with more that 140 movies made in around three years. But the mid-90’s became hard for the industry due to maoist insurgency which directly affect the market as few movies has been created and many of them flopping at the box office. Only selected movies were viewed by audience and in 2000–2001, the then-highest-grossing Nepali film Darpan Chaya and Jindagani were made.
Industry after 2005’s
By 2006, with Maoists coming into mainstream politics, the Nepali film industry started to return to its previous state, and more films were being made and released. This period also marked the commencement of digital films in the industry. Various new age movies were made after. In 2012, movie “Loot” directed by Nischal Basnet was considered to be game changer in Nepali movie industry. The concept was different and was loved by the audience. It was the beginning of new age movie viewing in Nepal with the new generation of talent like Saugat Malla, Dayahang Rai, Bipin Karki being associated with movie industry. Later more new talent like Anmol KC, Priyanka Karki, Swostima Khadka, Pradip Khadka, Barsha Raut were introduced in mid- 2010’s. With the increase market value, TV actors like Deepak Raj Giri, Jitu Nepal, Kedar Ghimire, Deepa Shree Niraula, Sitaram Kattel also joined the movie industry with their movie series “Chakka Panja”, which became the highest grossing Nepali movie of that time with over Rs. 20 crores gross which was dethroned by Kabaddi 4 in 2022 which gross around Rs. 23 crores.
Influence of Foreign Film Industry
The influence of other film industry has been huge in nepali market. More multiplexes want to showcase foreign film if it clashes with nepali movie. Youngsters are directly impacted by foreign movie rather than nepali. That’s the reason why the collection of foreign film is more than that of Nepali film in Nepali film market. The gross collection of Baahubali 2 is Rs. 25 crores which is more than that of Kabaddi 4. Similarly, more Bollywood and Hollywood movies have grossed huge sum of movie in Nepali film market.
The advancement of technology helps the makers to create different concept films with The Legend of Sankhadhar being the first animated Nepali film. And Vigilante was the First 3D movie made in Nepal with many multi lingual movies also made like Parastree and Prem Geet 4 among many being released in Hindi language.
The Nepali film industry has come a long way in recent years with the growth of new age technology, lavish location, popularity in music. The increasing professionalism of Nepali filmmakers and actors have all contributed to the success of Nepali films. As the industry continues to grow and mature, it is likely that Nepali films will become even more popular and widely recognized in the future.
