This side of the woods

by ABHA ELI PHOBOO

FROM ISSUE # 159 (March 2009) | IN THIS ISSUE
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The Oscar season just got over. We raved, analysed, and criticised the winners and the nominees. Slumdog Millionaire, a movie based in Mumbai, India, just took home eight Oscars, including Best Picture.

Really, to film snobs, the Oscars don't mean much, but they do bring a lot of mileage to the films mentioned. (I am biased and think that A.R. Rahman much deserved the awards he took home). No matter how much Amitabh Bachchan and other Bollywood stars say that Slumdog Millionaire portrays India in a bad light or it is too hyped, the film deserved the recognition it received. Overshadowed by Slumdog Millionaire, Smile Pinki, also another film based in India, won the award for Best Documentary Short.

Now to us, across the border, there will be much disgruntled appreciation and ruing over Big Brother nation having more reasons to boast. Eventually, conversations will find their way to the pitiful productions that Kollywood churns out, most of them bad copies of Bollywood, which themselves are bad copies of Hollywood, which are often copies of Southeast Asian films.

Indeed, there is nothing wrong about copying in order to learn and adapting the crux to create art but at some point the copier must learn the art form and find a unique, individual style. Any of us can go on about how bad Kollywood is, but it has produced some pretty good films. Also, there is an attempt to break away from the stereotypical Kollywood production styles with the new age Nepali documentary, docu-drama and short features.

We must encourage young directors and artists, nurture those who want to find the many fascinating stories that Nepal has and create our own experiments with how best to portray the ideas. Movies and docu-drams such as Kumari , Paral ko Aago, Numafung, Balidaan, Bheda Ko Oon Justo, Ujeli, Prem Pinda, Chino, Kanyadaan, Saino, Kagbeni, Basudev, Darpan Chhaya, Lahure are classics or absolute 'must-watch' films that left their mark on generations of Nepalis. I've made my list, feel free to add or make your own.

Abha Eli Phoboo was the editor of WAVE from 2005-2006. She recently graduated in Creative Studies from University of Central Oklahoma, in the United States.