KATHMANDU: On the sunny afternoon of May 6, the premises of Nepal Academy was packed with an enthusiastic crowd. The occasion was the launch of the novel Haribahadur, written by the most lovable comedy actor of the nation Hari Bansha Acharya. The novel is based on one of the famous television shows Madanbahadur Haribahadur written, directed, and performed by Acharya and Madan Krishna Shrestha.

In the show, Acharya played as the antagonist Haribahadur, and Shrestha played the protagonist Madanbahadur.

Haribahadur was jointly launched by chief guest and Acharya’s real and reel partner Shrestha and Acharya himself. Haribahadur is Acharya’s second book, but as a novel it is his first, published by FinePrint.

Acharya himself came to the stage in his Haribahadur character and performed saying, “Teso Gare Kaso Hola.” He commented on the contemporary issues of politics and Nepali society. He dressed like in the cover photo of the novel — yellow shirt, dark blue waistcoat and trousers. Haribahadur, who is notorious for his action and pompous gossip, surprised the audience with his (‘Mr Know-it-all’ image) knowledge from politics to science. The audience clapped at every punchline delivered by Acharya aka Haribahadur.

Soon after, Shrestha came on the stage and congratulated Acharya for his hard work and dedication. Becoming emotional he said, “Hari Bansha is my younger brother and friend. He is everything to me. He wrote such a beautiful book and took us on the journey of Haribahadur. So, I want to congratulate him, myself and all the audience and readers for giving us Haribahadur.”

At the launch, contemporary writer Buddhi Sagar Chapai commented on the book as well as interviewed Acharya about the book.

Chapai revealed that the novel is like an autobiography of Haribahadur, the reel character. “It shows the journey of Haribahadur on how he became a rebellious  and mischievous character. Haribahadur is portrayed as an unsuccessful character. He knows everything but cannot achieve anything due to his mischievous nature.”

“I believe, every human being possesses both characters — Madanbahadur (positive) and Haribahadur (negative). The beauty of the novel is that it flows at the fast pace. Along with Haribahadur there are other characters like Alaichi, Pashupati and Shere. Readers can’t help falling in love with these characters,”

he added.

He pointed out that Haribahadur makes “one laugh and cry at the same time. You want to give him sympathy for the unfortunate incidents in his life while at the same time you hate him for his mischievous acts”.

Saying that the novel has a flavour of script too, Chapai asked Acharya about the differences in writing an autobiography and novel.

“We (Madan Krishna and me) have been writing scripts for plays, telefilms and films for 40 years now. So, writing wasn’t problem for me. Rather, it has become easier. In scripts, we had to compromise in many places due to budget, time or resources. Here, I was free and could be highly imaginative.”

Revealing how this novel came to be, Acharya said, “When I wrote Cheena Harayeko Manchhe, people loved the book and asked me to write again. I didn’t think back then that like our live shows, a book could also be a strong medium to interact with readers. So, I chose to write about Haribahadur. How Haribahadur was born? How we are trapping people like Haribahadur?”

Sharing his nervousness about novel, he said, “I’m nervous like I am appearing for SLC. I hope I get pass marks at least.”