Opening a Kaleidoscope of opportunities

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: With the intention of giving a platform for interaction and finding different avenues to work in a collaborative way between the youth of India and Nepal, the ‘Kathmandu Kaleidoscope: India-Nepal Youth Conference’ started on May 13 at the Nepal Tourism Board, Bhrikutimandap. Organised by the Embassy of India in association with BP Koirala India-Nepal Foundation, the conference will end on May 14.

On the first day of the conference, discussions took place in the arena of film, media and business. The discussion started after the formal inauguration of the programme by the lighting of the lamp by Parliamentarian Gagan Thapa and Miss Nepal 2012 Shristi Shrestha.

In the programme, director/writer Anurag Basu from India, director Deepak Rauniyar, scriptwriter/producer Prachanda Man Shrestha and actor Nisha Adikary representing Nepal discussed about the changing trends of cinema on the topic ‘Film’. The discussion focused on the future of Nepali cinema and how the Indian film Industry can help in the tourism sector of Nepal apart from the changing trends of cinema.

Moreover, on the topic ‘Media’, Indian journalists Smita Sharma and Utpal Parashar and Nepali journalists Biswas Baral and Bidushi Dhungel discussed about the change in media, which was followed by a discussion on the topic ‘Business’. Indian businessman Ishann Suri and Nepali businessmen Saurav Jyoti and Ananda Bagaria talked on the inheritance and innovation in the business field.

About the programme, Apoorva Srivastava, spokesperson of the Indian Embassy explained, “The programme is a platform for collaboration of youth working in different sectors of Nepal and India by increasing the interaction and to build people-to-people relationship and how to work together between the youth of both the countries.”

On Nepali movies competing with foreign movies, Rauniyar and Shrestha expressed that due to modern technology Nepali films can compete with foreign movies where Shrestha focused on “a filmmaker must know the taste of the audience and make films according to them.” Rauniyar shared, “The stories in our society can make for a successful movie.”

About the event Basu shared, “It’s a great feeling to be a part of such a programme and I learnt a lot of things about Nepali movies and that it is all ready to erupt. It’s just the matter of time and opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Raymon Das Shrestha from the audience shared, “This kind of interaction will be a great help where one is able to know about technicalities, accessibility while making a film and more. And the programme helped me to learn about the situation of movies where the traditional phase is changing slowly in Nepal.” The conference on May 14 will focus on topics like literature, fashion, music and sports.