Kapil Sharma says sorry for Mount Everest blunder

Nov 19, 2014: Indian celebrities make controversies time and again with their little knowledge about Nepal, its geography and icons. From Hrithik Roshan to Madhuri Dixit to Kabir Bedi, they had given some demeaning remarks about our country Nepal (& its icons) which happen to spur protests here, even killing some people (during the Hrithik Roshan Kanda). Later they end up saying sorry for their mistake. This time it happened from a popular comedian who has sparked controversy with false remarks for Mount Everest being located in India. Kapil Sharma (Host of Comedy Nights with Kapil) had made the blunder statement in his first Australia show.. here is the video clip. This show actually happened last year where some Nepalese had opposed his words with  comments in the video posted in Youtube. But as Kapil sharma is about to land here in Kathmandu along with Sonu Nigam, for Ncell Purple Fest (Dec 13, 2014, Dasarath Rangshala Stadium), this video went to people in large scale and resort to social medias for the dissent. Some were even sharing to express their dissatisfaction during the show. Much worst is the Youtube comments on the same video where the debate goes furious with f words between Nepalese & Indian youths and it seems to affect the long cherished relationship between the nearest neighbors.

Kapil expresses his apology from his official twitter account saying. ““in one of my show by mistake I said that Mount Everest is in India. I never meant to hurt Nepali people's feelings.. I feel sorry if i hurt U people thru my words.. I love Nepal n Nepalese people.. Keep smiling n stay happy.. God bless this beautiful world :).”

Nepalese people are very much sensitive of such issue (I think every national should be) and won't appease without protesting.  Now the question is how to react for such issue, as we have to keep in mind that we don't have to destroy our own properties for other nationals lousy remarks and Equally we should not be taking it easy. Such controversies are not only created by Bollywood actors but some Indian Political leaders also get involved (seems intentionally sometimes). Take for Instance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was highly praised for his speech in the parliament during his first ever visit here. He even mentioned Nepal as the land of Buddha and Sita but it did not took a month to forget what he said here and expressed indirectly India to be the Land of Buddha in a mass gathering back in his homeland.

This controversy is over with Kapil's apology, but we should act on both political and ground level to stop them teasing us again and again. For political level, there is no hope from our incapable leaders to express "Big brother" of the mistake. On Ground level, people should learn how to properly raise the issue to dash them. Thanks to Social medias, where anyone can express their dissatisfaction globally and be heard aloud, instead of taking it to the streets (probably having physical loss).

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Will Jhola get nominated for foreign film Oscar?

This years set a record in submitting highest number of entries (83 countries) to the Best foreign language movie in the 87th Academy Awards (2014). Last year the number was 76. Nepal selected the drama "Jhola"as the official entry to compete in Best foreign Language film at the Oscars. This is the sixth entry from Nepal to the Oscar where the very first one "Himalaya" (Caravan) got the nomination at the 72nd Academy Awards (1999). The movie was directed by French Photographer/Director Eric Valli and got the Oscar foreign film recognition for the adventurous and scenic beauty in mountainous region of Dolpa.

Jhola after getting good reviews in the country, made it to the SAARC film festival 2014, Srilanka with Garima Panta winning the Best actress award. Jhola is based on a shocking story ( story "Jhola" written by Krishna Dharabasi) of the nineteenth century in which a widowed woman had to self immolate on her husband funeral fire to be called a good wife (Sati). Though the movie makers including the director Yadav Kumar Bhattarai are happy for getting such international platform, it is quite uncertain of the movie to make it to the top five films, after two phase of selection ( from nine short listed movie). The movie has not made it to the major film festivals (except SAARC) for wide recognition and there is not even a trailer with English subtitle. But as the movie has such appalling story of the abolished Sati practice, it has created some hype in the international arena, and I believe it may turn out to be a dark horse in this tough race. What I see missing is the film maker's effort to make use of the hype in getting proper support to reach different festivals or even distributors for international screens. We may be unaware of the effort (until the good result) as it is quite tough to get the connections and support for the small budget movie from this part of the world.

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Alok Nembang is dead.... seems like a Suicide.

Whoa!!!! what a shocking news that is. Another news of suicide from the Nepali film industry. In an apparent case of suicide, famed music video and movie director Alok Nembang is found dead at his apartment, on Thursday night. According to Police, Alok is found dead in hanged condition in his own residence at Grande Villa, Tokha road. He had directed popular movies like "Sano Sansar" (starring Namrata shrestha, Karma, Vinay) and "Kohi Mero" (starring Jharana Bajracharya, Aryan Sigdel). His latest "Ajhai pani" is in the pipeline for release later this year. He had directed several music videos, some of my favorites are "Lakhau Patak (his first music video)","K ma timro sathi banna sakchu", "Kasko Ankha lagyo", "Kina Malai", "San Nani Timilai", "Sarkari Jagir", His first media career started as a VJ on Image Channel (even from Am television in NTV). He worked for numerous music videos in parallel with the television hosting. After quitting VJ's job, He started directing movies that put him to fame with his debut movie "Sano Sansar".

The reason behind the suicide is not yet known, which is a matter of investigation from Police and will be out some time later. Nepali film industry had witnessed several cases of such suicide from actors (female actors in general) and this being the latest from a prominent youth director who has much time to give us good cinemas. This is an another loss for the growing Nepali film industry. Let the departed soul rest in peace and let there be no other such bad news from our cinema industry.
I happen to meet him once during the premiere of his movie "Sano Sansar". He was so down to earth that he shared his "less wordy" thoughts and we agreed on the positive impact of this sort of movies for the future growth of Nepali film industry, even on such a short meet. In my view, Bhusan Dahal's Kagbeni and Alok's Sano Sansar had aligned the path for New Nepali movies and generated big hope for the film enthusiasts. Now that we are in a position to be proud for our movies, still we have a long way to go. Alok Nembang will definitely be missed in this mission to align more youths for our own movies.

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Talakjung vs Tulke Movie Review

I have never seen such a strong faith in any Nepali movie director that Nepalis are giving upon Mr. Director Nischal Basnet. The faith he has earned from the people is due to his amazing cinematic work in the blockbuster Loot and they believe his second directorial venture has more to offer than Loot. We need more of such directors for the betterment of Nepali film Industry, and whose story telling shall develop every aspects of film making from technical side to actors to film crew. Here is what his latest has to offer.

TalkJung Vs Tulke is a movie about a poor laborer in a village in the western region who calls himself "BabuSaab" (the royal) but people treat him the exact opposite way. The "good for nothing" character's real name is TalakJung Singh Thakuri but people call him "Tulke" derogatorily. Tulke keeps whining about his greatness and involves in brawl with others for his love "Phuli" and mere issues. The movie takes place in the era when most of the villages in the country are affected with the insurgency and this village is no exception. The protagonist is so naive that he takes armed conflict as an simple task and asks them to mix him in the group without knowing what the armed revolution is all about. He keeps mumbling about taking revenge of the Local feudal "Babusaheb" and his son, who are ruling over the poor laborers but he does not have that courage to stand against, unless he is drunk. In an unexpected turning point, he is forced to evict from the village with his head cross shaved ("Char pate mudera"). TalakJung enters Kathmandu, meets a group of thugs and helps them collect huge sum by intimidating people in the name of fake insurgent groups. The unprecedented encounter of all other members with Police leaves him no choice but to return back to the village that he would have done anyway, to take revenge of his insult. The village now has changed a lot due to the armed conflict. As the revolt in the village leads to a tragic conclusion, the "Good for nothing" TalakJung happens to do the best thing that I think establishes an identity that he was searching for.

The story line is quite simple and inspired by Chinese Novel "The true story of Ahq" that is well molded to Nepali domain by the screenplay writer Khagendra Lamichane who is also the lead actor, playing Tulke. The presentation of the movie is done in a comic style with such grave issue of armed revolution in the background. The movie won't take side for the human killing but the innocent dialogue asking the revolutionist not to kill people ( Krantikari haru lai Munche chahi namara bhande hai!!) gives the reflection of Tulke's mind (who wants to join the revolutionists). Flawless acting from the lead Khagendra Lamichane (Tulke), Richa Sharma (Phuli), Sushank Mainali (Suke), Dayahang Rai and Rabindra Singh Baniya (Binay) is quite remarkable and obvious for the established actors and theater artists. As Khagendra was mostly blindfolded in his first movie Badhshala, this movie proved his acting skills and will definitely get more invitations for new movies. Black beauty Richa Sharma without makeup or probably adding more black in her face, has done full justice to the character. Dayahang Rai and Bikram Singh have no major role in the movie apart from some loot and the item song. The slow paced movie manages to keep people adhere to the screen for almost full time, though there are some sequences that looses the theme and at times even makes you forget Tulke. The eight lakh worth item song "Nachana" is energetic and arouses good feeling in the audiences, but not up to the level of Udreko Choli. Apart from the Paschimi (western region) accents (like Kya arni ho, munche and many more), the movie is also better in putting finer details like radio program of that era, Darpanchaya show in BishwoJoti. Though people have admired the movie as a whole, some people shared the ending could have been better but may be that's the way it ends in the original story. Director Nischal Basnet (Actor Kabaddi) has definitely kept the faith for the people with this dark comedy. I am now wondering if its gonna be "Loot 2" or "Dimag Kharab" that he will start putting into action first.

One additional thing that I appreciate is the initiative in playing the National anthem at the start of the movie. This is a common practice in various part of the world where we even being a foreigner stood to give a respect to the country. This helps to promote the patriotic spirit and should be practiced from the Cinema hall side or the Government itself.

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Xiaomi's third position is short lived.

OCT 30, 2014: While the leader of the smartphone industry, Samsung is worried about the decline in its sales for this quarter (despite having comfortable lead with 78 Million sales) and the apple seemed content with the best 39 Million sales for the quarter, Xiaomi- the fast growing company is recorded as the third largest smartphone maker with 18 Million sales in the Q3 2014. Reports from IDC and strategy analytics, has it that the two year Chinese firm surpassed Lenovo, LG and Huawei for that 5.6 percent share of the total 327 Million shipments in the third quarter, which is more than 200 percent increment from the previous Mi phone shipments. IDC further writes the success of Xiaomi lies in the launch of MI4 that was positioned as the high end alternatives to the status quo.

With the way Xiaomi is growing without expanding its business to broader range, the chance of reaching the top second or even the top spot is very probable. Xiaomi products are available mainly to its home China and later released to some countries like India, Singapore, Hongkong while the demands for other part of the world is not yet quenched. Though we cannot give Xiaomi a huge numbers (required to increase the market share), Nepal equally has high demand for its products. Last week only, we got this good news of Xiaomi arriving here, but I doubt if it is the official entrance.
Meanwhile as I was writing this post, I came to the news of the completion of acquisition of Motorola by Lenovo. With this acquisition, the third quarter shipments for Lenovo comes around 25 Million (adding that of Lenovo and Motorola phones), which takes away the third spot from Xiaomi. What a short lived celebration that was.... but no worries I am pretty sure Xiaomi will definitely hit back in the last quarter.

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