Cinema : its reality and superficiality

।। Abhinaya ।।

I think even the casual comments about the alienation of Nepali films from its people and society demands modest arguments. The rupture of Nepali people with its one of most powerful and popular mode of expression is a painful and a tragic reality. Thus the blaming game on directors and audiences solves nothing but builds up a frustrating environment. And hardly anybody has come up with conciliatory works even small interactions programs between filmmakers and audiences are almost non-existent. Thus in this context I ‘m nowhere to provide any answers, even my questions stands on the fragile ground.

Why we don’t watch Nepali films, as an individual I can shrug off not only the answer but even the question. But if one tries to put it on reasonable grounds then his rationality would be severely tested. How can a Nepali person provide sound rationality or logic for not watching Nepali films? Which are based on Nepali society, uses Nepali language and presents its time, place and life on the screen? I’m not prepared to stand this trial, if you can please write to us.

And I haven’t till now come across around convincing arguments. I’m not saying that one has to accept and watch Nepali films because of our national connection. But our grounds for dissociation and avoidance needs certain tidiness otherwise we would be gullible to Nepali filmmakers accusations and indeed we would share equal guilt for Nepali film industry degradation.

One argument for not watching Nepali films is its superficial storyline and presentation. Critics of Nepali films generally do agree on this but before any further explanation on the nature of reality one had to differentiate between reality of the world and the reality of cinema world. Because latter’s primary existence and meaning is almost synonymous with virtual world; in a film people, places and environment do exists but it cannot live and survive inside it.

I mean its art after all which is buttressed by humankind’s supreme intelligence, means technology. But at the end cinema world is the highest form of artistic expression. Thus any cinema or every film in a way repeats the act of every poem, painting and other artifacts. It express or helps a person or group of it to create a meaningful objects like poem, story, song etc by using cultural and socially available materials like language, colors, other tools and lastly technology.

So if one tries to reason his avoidance of Nepali films on the grounds of it being superficial or ‘unreal’. Then he must consider at least try to bring together reality, expression and creation in one place. And dare to look at it, it could be like bringing tiger, dove and a butterfly in a same place or may be a different story.

Lastly I want to discuss on the ‘reality of other cinema’ and its portrayal of the life-world. But I would do it as a ‘landlocked Nepali citizen’. The realism of cinema world is almost a western creation. And if we go further it is build around the concept of individualism. In western cinema world the artistic expression is build around ‘how does an individual act or react’. And this individual is one whose ties with communal society, religious society and with family are on loosening ends. He/she is not a member like us from a caste world, from a Tol, from a certain cultural and religious world. They are a western is guy, a pure city guy, Whose ultimate relation is with the state. For they, world is a part of the universe, governed by scientific laws. He/she constantly too try to read the world around them in same way, and thus the trouble begins and realism develops, in art and the cinema world.

I don’t want to preach much but what reality we are searching on our cinema world and in ourselves. I think it’s time to search it on our western films and in our Nepali films.

Posted in: Movies