Thus starts the newly released Nepali film Kathmandu produced and directed by Akash Adhikari. The film starts off well by raising issues related to drugs, generation gap, street children, poverty, and AIDS, among other problems that are prevalent in the capital. The story, however, fails to touch the audience emotionally. Though the issues themselves are well known, viewers will find that they are unable to connect with the characters and their grief.
Aryan (Akash Adhikari) returns to Nepal to make a film, and sees that his family is just about in ruins. His elder brother Ajay (Arjun Shrestha) and sister-in-law Samyukta (Samyukta Rana) are living in the same house but are separated. This causes their daughter Simrik (Prapti Ghimire), under the influence of her friend Astha (Mamata Pradhan), to indulge in drugs in order to deal with her frustrations. Astha herself turned to substance abuse after her father and mother Maya (Gauri Malla) separated when she was quite young. Until this point, the film seems rather promising but becomes quite vague when it touches various issues and leaves them without any
conclusion. Aryan who is in search of a producer for his docu-drama hopelessly returns to the US, but a foreign company agrees to finance his venture and he finds himself back in Nepal. Upon his return he discovers that the situation at home has further deteriorated.
Though the storyline slacks off, the camerawork is very impressive and cinematographer Dirgha Gurung should be applauded for a job well done. While the technical aspect deserves recognition, the editing could have been crisper. It would also have helped if the script by Suraj Subba ‘Nalbo’ were made tighter; there were many loopholes. On top of that, a major drawback is the dialogues—using snippets of English in the otherwise Nepali film does not improve the script. The dialogues are not lively and actors deliver them as if they have memorised them.
In fact, the actors’ performances are another weak point in the film—all the actors fail to do justice to their characters. It doesn’t seem convincing at all that Gauri Malla’s character would tell her daughter that she has the liberty to do anything she wants to (as long as she does not get pregnant), in front of people.
Amongst them, Rana, who made her debut in Kathmandu surprisingly, seems more convincing compared to the rest of the actors. Actors Resh Marahattha and Gauri Malla have nothing much to do in the film. Although Aani Choying Dolma’s special appearance in Kathmandu lends nothing to the film itself, her presence must be taken as one of its positives.
Furthermore, the conflict between characters fails to be well defined and perhaps is a reason why it lacks the emotional grip such a story line could present. The second half of the film merely ends up being overdramatic and larger than life. The script would have done better to concentrate on fewer problems instead of trying to encompass all of the issues that exist in the city. It would certainly benefit if completely unnecessary scenes and songs had been removed as it would have made a difference in how sensitive topics were approached.
Overall, the much hyped Kathmandu doesn’t live up to expectations. The story of our very own city seems incomplete and not at all convincing.