Badhshala Movie preview review.

When the movie team was organizing "Black Friday"-a protest program in Nepal, "Badhshala" (meaning Slaughterhouse in English) got screened in Australia on the very same day it was supposed to be released in Nepal. But due to Nepal Army's objection for the screening and Government indecision, its release date was postponed to indefinite date here and they may resort to Supreme Court for its release. This is not the first time a movie based on insurgency was banned, previously a movie by Narayan Puri - "Aago" was also first banned and later allowed to screen with so many scenes, dialogues being censored.

Directed by Manoj Pandit, Badhshala is a movie based on the torture story inside an army Barrack (Bhairab Natha Gand) where the then Maoists rebels are known to be tortured, humiliated, and disappeared after killing during the decade long insurgent period. As the story of the movie is inspired by books like Adhyara 258 dinharu by Jitman Basnet, Manav Badhshala by Krishna KC and an anonymous article written in Janastha weekly- all being either Maoists or Pro-Maoists, the movie is expected to depict the story just from the rebels point of view.

I myself being in Nepal, have not watched the movie but I have collected some views regarding the movie from my friends in Australia.

According to my friend, there is no big story here, it goes like this: Nepal Army takes custody of some people (Maoists and Normal), tortures them to get the whereabouts of  Prachanda/Baburam (the leader of then Maoists rebel), forces them to commit themselves of being Maoists and ultimately kills them. Regarding the torture part, movie has full of goose-bumpy scenes where my friend even closed her eyes at times. A violent scene where a pregnant women is hit by foot in her belly and poor food/living condition for the prisoners inside the army battalion shows the detainees were treated even worse than dogs. The movie is known to include some F*words that needs to be censored which sounded so cheap to my friend.

One friend argued that the movie shows army in a very bad way and tarnishes the image of a National Army, so it should be banned or censored as it will instigate some protests against them. 

So the million dollar question is: Is it worthy to ban a movie being based on a story (written by Maoists and pro-Maoists) that portrays Nepal Army in a bad way and tarnishes their image??. Well for that my friends were divided over the issue. Some argued that the movie shows Maoists as a true fighter for the nation and not a single misdeeds were shown from their side. Being a single sided story, it seems like they were trying to support the decade long insurgency. But another question arises instantly in my mind: If that thing is well depicted in the movie, then why would the current government (led by Maoists) is not allowing it to screen as they are very calculative in their own benefit OR are they afraid to go against the Nepal Army's letter to evict another Katuwal kanda-(tussle between Army and government)?

But other friends argued that each Nepali has the right to know what had happened inside the Bhairab Nath Battalion and alike during the insurgency period. Since the  movie is based on a true story that happened inside the Army Barrack, some friends are of complete support in screening it in Nepal without censor. They say History is history, we have to accept the mistakes committed in the course of time and learn from it rather than hide it. 

Almost all agreed that all star casts of Saugat Malla, Dayahang Rai, Arpan Thapa, Anup Baral, Sarita Giri are super in their performance and some humorous scenes are also there to entertain you. From the conversations with those who have watched the movie, I believe the movie should be rated R for violence and should be screened in Nepal with proper censor without ruining the movie's theme and not instigating some more protests as we already had enough of that. Is not that a win win situation!!!
Lastly, Manoj Pandit deserves salutation for the daring work, as he might have predicted this sort of hurdles for the controversial issue.

Disclaimer: This movie review is solely based on what I had conversed with my friends.

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New Load-shedding schedule effective from March 11 (Falgun 28).

Nepal Electricity Authority has announced the new load-shedding schedule to be reduced by 2 hours per day.  Issuing a notice today, NEA informed media of power cut hours to be made 10 hours from 12 hours per day. Citing the SLC examination, NEA decreased the load-shedding hours to alleviate the worst condition for students which is possible due to additional electricity from India, significant amount of water level in Kulekhani resorvoir and maintenance of Kali Gandaki A Hydro.

Here is the new load shedding schedule to be effective from March 11 (Falgun 29) but published on March 9. Click to download or larger picture.

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Lyrics of Fikka fikka cha by Nabin K Bhattarai

Nabin K Bhattarai is back with a new album entitled "Kathmandu" and has also released a song "Fikka fikka cha' with his own unique style. The music video of the song was shot in Sydney, featuring Bimalesh Adhikari and Karsha Adikari which is going good in the air waves / net webs. Though this is what real Nabin K. Bhattarai is, it's early to say about the whole album. I am sure some "Pink Floyd" taste wont be missing there.

Here is the lyrics of the song "Fikka fikka cha" from the album Kathmandu.

[Fikka Fikka cha
Timi bina yo mero jindagi.]*2

Yi ankha le harpal,timilai khojcha.
Yi otha le harpal, timro nam japcha.
Ani mero ghayal mutu timilai samjhi runcha.

Fikka fikka cha,
Timi bina yo mero jindagi. *2

Sansara ka sabbai kura arthahin lagcha.
Mera sara khusi cchen barale jhai lagcha.
Ani mero ghayal mutu timilai samjhi runcha.

Fikka fikka cha,
Timi bina yo mero jindagi. *2



And here is the music video of the song Fikka fikka cha.

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Badhshala may resort to Supreme Court for its release.

Update: Official Badhshala Facebook page has written that the movie release date is postponed to an unscheduled date as the government denied the permission to release the movie this Friday. Badhshala team is organizing "Black Friday" to protest against the government move to ban the film and garnering people's support to raise the "Freedom of Expression" voice.

The fate of the movie Badhshala which is based on atrocities inside an army barrack during the Maoist insurgency period- is now in the hands of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai who is going to watch the movie for its scheduled release this Friday (March 8, Falgun 25). It seems like the movie team have little hope of being passed by the censor board as Prime Minister himself owns the portfolio of Ministry of Defense which had previously written two letters to Ministry of Information and Communication to ban the movie, for the first time citing the unauthorized use of army costume and later telling the movie may affect the peace process.

The movie team expressed their dissatisfaction over the indecision of Censor Board to pass the movie due to the "Ministry of Defense" letters. In a press meet organized today in Anamnagar, Kathmandu, many film artists/well-wishers suggested them to go to Supreme court for this censorship, which is against the "Freedom of expression". So, if the result is negative from the prime minister, the movie team will go to Supreme Court as the last resort to release the movie.

Many cine artists have vowed to support any sort of protests against the Government's censorship for the most awaited movie "Badhshala". And as a well wisher of Nepali movie, I will be there to stand for it.

Here is the stunning trailer of the movie.

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CG to enter into Telecom sector.

Chaudhary Group, one of the biggest business house of Nepal (popular for electronic products and food/beverages) is all set to enter the telecom market with the brand name CG tel. After acquiring 80 percent Shares of the American company STM Telecommunication Services, CG tel is eager to launch their services within six months. Remaining 20 percent share of STM Telecom Sanchar is owned by a Nepali company named AR investment.

STM telecommunication had been running rural telephones in villages of about 50 districts and has the largest PCO network in Nepal under the name "Gramintel". They are also providing services like tele-medicince, international calls, tele-centre in the rural areas, and have a subscriber base of about 5350 (according to NTA latest MIS). STM telecom had also applied for the unified license to NTA (Nepalese Telecommunication Authority) which if they get, allows them to operate different telecom services through a single license, with huge license fee of Rs 377.5 million. Though NTA is examining the applicants for the unified license, the regulatory body won't be able to do the big decision in the absence of their Chairman (whose appointment is stayed by Supreme court).

Chaudhary Group was very keen in investing in the telecom sector from many years but due to unavailability of enough frequency spectrum and huge license fee for new operator, they were mum to wait for amicable time. And this unified license fulfills their awaited desire and will enable them to use many telecom services like GSM, CDMA through a single license. 

Source: www.nepalitelecom.com

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