Our readers believe that without experience and knowledge, quality is impossible to achieve. This applies to the Nepali film industry too. Along with the creative streak, film-makers need to have some credibility to back them:

Just like painting and poetry, cinema is a work of art which adds colours of joy to our life. It is pretty exciting to know that many young film-makers are taking the creative aspect of film-making to a whole new level. I don’t think newbies need to have formal education and prior experience to direct or produce a film independently. This will not substantially help in the development of the industry because it bars young geniuses from being a part of it.

The best thing about art is freedom and this system will snatch the freedom out of it. I think that the audience should judge the abilities of a film-maker and not a bureaucrat who judges people based on academic grades and certificates. Nobody needs specific education and experience to write poetry, do they? My point is that experience comes with time, but it does not mean experience is greater than artistic brilliance.

— Prabhat Paudyal, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Nepali film industry has seen rapid changes in recent years. The number of film produced in a year has increased with some remarkable achievements in art and technology. And the young generation of producers and directors must be credited with this positive development. Some of the films by these youngsters have enjoyed great success in the Box Office. Loot is a good example of a commercially successful film by a young director.

But it is always hard to maintain quality in quantity. Not all young aspirants in film production and direction are professionally trained. So, it is hard to expect an ideal film as the audience desires from them. In this sense, education and experience certainly have a plus point to bring quality in the film industry. Well trained professionals with experience certainly know the do’s and don’ts of film-making and they have a better approach and sound knowledge to start with.

However, it is not also correct that films made by these professionals are always successful. Since, film-making is a work of art, I believe creativity, imaginative power and skill to portray the audience’s expectations in a film all accounts to quality and successful film-making.

— Prabesh Shrestha, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu

First of all, they need education regarding the latest technology of film-making, light as well as camera. They need to select suitable actors perfect for the characters. Due to lack of education, people are not able to select the story of a film which is the most important part for any film. A film-maker or director must think about what they are doing and why they are doing what they are doing. So, without education and experience, a film cannot fulfil the requirement of good cinema.

— Bikram Man Shrestha, Baneshwor

Firstly, I would like to say that Nepali film-makers and producers are not so hard working as compared to Bollywood. It is rare to see the next film of that one director in the Nepali film industry. This is so because the film goes in loss.

Yes, newbies need to have experience. They should work with the experienced directors and producers to be independent. The industry of Nepali films can be more popular if they visit various places for shooting. They should try to include scenes of all religions so that people become curious to watch the movies. There should be proper management in the film industry. The government should also play a crucial role to enhance the film industry. They should try to learn many ideas from famous and mature directors and producers. If they do so, the film industry can progress beyond their imagination.

— Ravikant Yadav, Dharampur, Bara

Of course, the Nepali film industry requires an improvement where education casts fresh ideas and new stories. What the film industry needs is mature and analytically professional producers/directors and choreographers that could up the standard with advanced technologies.

Thus, to address the drawbacks of the film industry, newbies must be good interpreter of the stories they present.

— Anonymous

The Nepali film industry has experienced changes in recent years. Film-making is indeed a creative process. It requires hard work, dedication and devotion towards one’s work. Many young and aspiring film-makers are stepping into the Nepali film industry like Nischal Basnet, Anup Sapkota, and Nigam Shrestha. Such debutant film-makers/directors are taking the whole scene of the film industry to a new level.

I think that young minds can generate new ideas and produce unique concepts related to the present context. They can incorporate their own experience and views in their work. Young and emerging directors have invested their skill in the respected field. Although they might receive criticism for their work as a newbie in the industry, they can learn from their mistakes and improve on those flaws. Movies produced by the rookie directors are praised and more preferred by the young generation.

— Rojina Pradhan, Ravibhawan, Kathmandu

Most of the people who go to cinema halls to watch new Nepali movies criticise the film and often call it ‘copied’. The film-makers seem to put the same plot, the same scenes and characters repeatedly.

The newbies, however, having no experience, not only steal distinct ideas but also the story itself from Hollywood and try to mould it in a Nepali way. These days, high picture quality and some romantic scenes especially sexual contents have become a tricky business in the Nepali movie industry. But this won’t work for long and eventually the movie will flop.

Moreover, experience counts on making a successful movie as knowing the taste of audience matters. But then, new ideas simply can’t be excluded.

— Milan Chauhan, Manthali

The newcomers in the field of film-making may be allowed without experience before they begin their journey independently, with an agreement to bear all the costs of consequences by themselves in case of any adversity while work in process, provided the content of the film falling under the appropriate film-making/directing/producing ethics criteria.

Allowing new enthusiasts could expand the skill level among the film-makers, which is a good thing. I agree that everyone may not hit the target, but will start working harder and smarter which may emphasise and elevate the quality of films. The work output or the film’s quality will matter at the end of the day where film-makers should be able to stand on their ownwork results no matter what. After all it’s their choice.

No one would acquire experience prior to their involvement in that particular field itself. Offer them a platform for experience and indeed it is absolutely their own headache for what they breed. This particular field entails risks and I’m sure none would imagine this without homework.

— Parbati Rai, Jhapa, Damak

I certainly think that newbies or so-called youngsters must have experience before pursuing anything new. Though they have the ability to go out of bounds of normal idea but experience could help them deal with it more creatively. Directing, producing, and acting in a film is not an easy task as it appears. Rather than entertainment, a good film must inspire to deceive what we see. So it is an artistic medium. Young film-makers must learn the techniques on character development and perfect use of story. They should learn to express thoughts, emotions, and for this they need experience and education. If they could be aware about things, definitely they can change the industry.

— Adarsh Pandey, Tamghas, Gulmi

I think people should first get some experience before entering the Nepali movie industry as a leader. They can work as an assistant director or something like that before becoming a director or producer. This will help them a lot to become experts in their work and when they actually don the director’s cap, they won’t have to face much problem in film-making. Their experience will teach them how things should be done and handled. Plus, formal education about film-making is also important for the newbies to enhance their knowledge of the same sector.

But, I give more priority to experience.

— Aishwarya Rai, Golfutar, Kathmandu

What I would like to say for sure is among all the art around the world, film-making is the most creative and laborious one. Any person who is going to make a film, requires adequate amount of knowledge and experience about how to make a particular film. Besides it also requires determination and commitment because there are chances that the film which has been made might not be attractive and popular.

In every country around the world, a film speaks about the social condition including Nepal. Films mainly try to reflect what is really happening in a society and also gives enough information about its people. The task of making films should not just be taken as a way of earning sufficient amount of money. It should be seen as a point of view of bringing positive, effective and needful changes in every society including the Nepali society. Moreover, both directors and producers should be specialised when it comes to making films. It means they require education and training about how to make films which can influence and impress people who are habituated to watch quality films. So the main thing that should be brought into consideration especially in the context of Nepali society is film-makers should focus on quality rather than quantity of films.

— Pratik Shrestha, Buddhanagar, Baneshwor

In this world films are not liked by all. Many people are attracted towards many films. I also like films. So in order to make qualitative films, the Nepali newbies must be passionate about it.

Talking about directing or producing a film independently, newbies need to have experience before they get into this profession. This will obviously control the quantity of Nepali films.

— Ankur Karn, Birgunj

Yes, obviously film is an artistic medium. It is a creative way of expressing the view to the audience. For this the film-makers should have the knowledge of all prospects that help them to express their views clearly. In recent times very few young film-makers are able to attract Nepali audience by their artistic creation. Most of the film-makers make the film in a hurry just to compete with others without any research. Many directors and script writers are found copying Bollywood films. In contrast, Hollywood and Bollywood films are made with great research of years and are made by people having great knowledge and experience of film. So, newbies need to have experience before they direct or produce film.

— Anonymous

We have a common misconception that Nepali movies are modest in quality. I disagree. Many recent films have impressed their viewers. But yes, it’s all about creativity portrayed on screen, the picturesque can be of new ideas. They can analyse the preferences of their generation. A young and dynamic director can make a film relevant to today’s generation because he himself belongs to the same generation. Whereas, having decades of experience in the same sector, directors will obviously produce interesting and different films that have quality. That’s why one should have knowledge and experience.

Films shouldn’t be judged, however, copying the plot from other films should be avoided. Promoting our Nepali film industry can really boost the economy, and opportunities.

— Pawan Ram Lamichhane

Education is important in every work. We can do any work perfectly if we have knowledge about that work. It is also said that little knowledge is dangerous. In Nepal, we see people who have got little knowledge about many things and they think themselves to be perfect. Due to this reason our film industry is also suffering.

We can see in Nepali movies many advantages as well as disadvantages. For film-making a director or producer should have knowledge about film- making. It’s not an easy task to make a movie.

Having knowledge and working as an assistant with a film director will add experience through which a perfect director or producer will be produced. Besides Nepalis are creative by nature. Not only film-maker, our film industry also needs educated actors, camera person, script writer et cetera. Education and experience will definitely produce Oscar winning movies from Nepal.

— Kajal Beriwal, Adarshnagar, Birgunj

Film-making — this art, if performed properly, can show a war fought for years or history of hundreds of years in, moving pictures in a couple of hours. Many among us dream to become a popular actor or actress. But we also have people with dreams to produce their own film independently. In Nepal we can see many newbies entering the film industry. Although the number of film-makers are increasing, the bitter truth is that, the industry has not gotten film of controlled quality.

I prefer watching more Hollywood or Bollywood movies than Nepali movies.

So in my view, the new generation has to be properly trained and experienced before entering the real field. They should make films according to the demand of time, situation and people.

— Aayush Adhikari, Kawashoti, Nawalparasi

 QUESTION OF THE WEEK

There is always a difference of opinion on any issue. However, if someone says something nasty to you, how do you deal with it? Do you think silence is better than retaliating in such case? Or should you give back as good as you get? Why?

Send your replies in not more than 200 words by Friday, July 24 by 2:00 pm to Features, The Himalayan Times, e-mail: features@thehimalayantimes.com