Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu:

PEN Nepal Chapter, an associate of International PEN and an organisation committed to the promotion of poets, essayists, and novelists in Nepal, organised a talk programme on February 13 on ‘Making of ‘Basanti’. Written at a time when publishing a book was not very common and permission was needed to be taken from the Rana government, ‘Basanti’, by Diamond Shamsher Rana, is the first historical novel written in 1948. It was made into a film by director Nir Shah in 1998.

Speaking on the occasion, Rana expressed his happiness on being given this pportunity. “Eighty per cent of the characters in ‘Basanti’ are historical and the remaining 20 per cent are fictionalised for significant presentation. King Rajendra Bikram Shah and the protagonist Gagan Singh, for example, are real characters while ‘Basanti’ is fictionalised.” ikewise, Nir Shah, director of the film, related his opinion about the novel and some experiences regarding its making and why he had chosen this particular novel for his film. “While studying in Darjeeling, I used to associate with people from the literary field and got an opportunity to read many writings by great Nepali writers, this was one of the novels I ad enjoyed reading.” He added that as a director he is not concerned about the writer, his background, his inspirations and the context in which the story is written. Instead, he looks for a story in which he finds the basics of films that can be followed. According to him making a film is a difficult task and it becomes all the more difficult when the plot of a novel is used as a script. Shah is proud that ‘Basanti’ is the first historical film produced with little compromise.

During 1990s the quantity of Nepali films produced increased but the film industry still lacks genuine scriptwriters. Shah added that the West is rich in technology and capital but we are rich on subjects. So, films like ‘Basanti’ should be produced and if his film has initiated such a trend and inspired the young directors and producers, he would consider himself fortunate.