Kathmandu

Where mainstream political parties are failing to voice the hopes and woes of the people of Nepal, contemporary Nepali films namely Mansarra, Bokshi ko Ghar and Pujar Sarki have been able to show some silver linings in the cloud.

Take the example of Manasarra, a film directed by Upendra Subba. Set in the urban context, the film portrays the woe of being an infertile husband, who goes on changing wives instead of admitting his infertile status. It also portrays the interesting pairing of Arya Khas with Janjatis. The contradictory and assimilation of Khas Aryan culture and Janjati is interesting to observe. And in the end one sees how they are all transformed including the old generation. The poignant remark: “Do you think eating pork will bring true love?”

Take another example – Bokshi ko Ghar, a film directed by Sulakshyan Bharati. The film set in a rural setting portrays child marriage with an adult man resulting in early widowhood, which is still common today. She is not only blamed for the death of her husband, but after being raped by her father-in-law, she is thrown out of the house castigated as a witch in order to hide the crime. What is interesting is that a young urban woman scholar, who studies the phenomena of ‘witch’, is also castigated as one by the same villagers who have made the widow a witch. The song – I do not understand, who will explain this? – is poignant.

A still from Pujar Sarki_youtube

And lastly, Pujar Sarki, a film directed by Dinesh Raut, is worth noting. The film set in a rural area portrays the complications and contradictions in tying the nuptial ties between a Brahmin priest and a cleaner Dalit woman in the same temple that he works in, and a Dalit boy trying to marry a non-Dalit girl. Interestingly this film starts and ends with political statements. The killing of both the protagonists by a mob for daring to step outside the boundaries of culture determined by their community marks the end. The warning remark by the Dalit father is worth noting: “Do not read, you will be killed.”

Interestingly the films show how marriage leads to disorientation of an impotent man like in Mansarra, while it leads to gender violence as a child bride and as a widow branded as a witch in Bokshi ko Ghar. Similarly in Pujar Sarki, the marriage leads to the stoning to death of a Brahmin priest for daring to marry a Dalit woman, and abetting a Dalit man to marry a non-Dalit woman.

All three movies have shown how the older generation, representing feudalism, have created cultural obstacles to the immediate new generation who are trying to live with new aspirations of life.

Similarly all three movies – directly or indirectly – give transformative message: Mansarra gives a good picture of various cultures transforming into each other. Bokshi ko Ghar, by announcing the second part of the movie, gives a ray of hope to the solving of the age old problem of witchery. Likewise Pujar Sarki gives hope of struggle and solution to age-old Dalit discrimination by a transformative political activist.

All three movies are low budget yet doing well in the Box Office. In fact the prevailing Janjati Commission, Women Commission and Dalit Commission in Nepal, should not only support these movies but put pressure on the government to make them tax-free so that they are accessible to the grassroots people.

However, all three movies have their own specific niches. Take the example of Mansarra – it is mainly an urban phenomena where the problem of infertility drives a man to keep experimenting with many women. Bokshi ko Ghar is mainly to do with gender violence in a rural setting under the background of the Arya culture. And Pujar Sarki is basically to expose how deep rooted the Dalit discrimination is within the same Arya culture in the name of religious discrimination.

A still from Mansarra_youtube

The theme of love has been well exploited in Mansarra and Pujar Sarki making the movie entertaining; whereas in Bokshi ko Ghar the film ends with the promise of a second part adding an element of curiosity.

Another powerful tool, that of religion, has been well exploited in Bokshi ko Ghar and Pujar Sarki. Both the movies end with violent death of protagonists. It is worth noting that Mansarra, which has no direct mention of religion, ends on a happy ending.

In terms of political lense, Pujar Sarki stands out. The movie not only exposes the so-called Communist party but also gives an opening to transformative political activists. However, in both Mansarra and Bokshi ko Ghar one does not see overt politics coming to play in any role.

Child psychology has been well-explored in Mansarra and Bokshi ko Ghar, whereas in Pujar Sarki the psychology of the older generation has been well exposed.

In totality, all three movies give a good idea of not only Nepal, but also South Asia, in terms of where the countries stand in terms of religion, culture and modernity.

Feudal gender discrimination and Dalit discrimination – both the diseases of rural areas, and impotency of men and women, the growing diseases of urban life have been well presented making all three movies a complete package. No wonder people are flocking to the movie halls to catch these challenging movies on the big screen. Book your seats if you are interested!

(‘A politician with a transformative mindset’, the author is a former minister and can be reached at [email protected])