The easiest way to become an anti-nationalist in Nepal is by watching a Bollywood film and writing about it on social media. Believe us, just do that once and you’re instantly hated by a mass of people.
Here’s a thing, many Nepali people hate India, or to be more particular, they hate the Indian government. Why? Because the Indian government has been proving to be such a pain in ass at times. The 2015 blockade, having problems with the constitution they shouldn’t give a fuck about and always sticking their nose in our internal affairs are some of the reasons why they are hated.
Apart from that, Bollywood sometimes stereotypes Nepali people by showing them speaking Hindi in a terrible accent and always showing them working as security guards. But well, it’s Bollywood; they just stereotype every Indian communities as well. Punjabis are always stupid and drink a lot, Rajputs or Thakurs are evil and corrupt, Marwadis are extremely thrifty and the people from UP and Bihar are illiterate and are mostly criminals or day laborers. However, it doesn’t obviously mean that if they stereotype every other community, it’s completely okay. Simply put, there are some stupid assholes in Bollywood.
Now, talking a little about the films in Nepal; it often happens that Bollywood films end up earning the most leaving behind Nepali and Hollywood films in the local box office. We can easily understand the frustration that the local filmmakers go through because they think it’s unfair that people avoid local films and go for the foreign films making it extremely difficult for them to sustain in the industry.
Apart from the economical aspects; some people just think that watching a Bollywood film is against patriotism because of course we should be proud that Buddha was born in Nepal, Mt. Everest is in Nepal and gurkhas are brave; and condemn everything that’s not related with our pride.
Now, one works hard the entire month, earns some money, wants to get some entertainment and thinks about going for a movie, but instead of watching a film that they wish and want to watch; should they be necessarily watching a Nepali film only? Don’t they have the right to choose which film they want to watch? If that’s how it is, why don’t we see Cosmic and Anna Lifan motorbikes on the roads much but other foreign brands? Why do there are more four wheelers which are exported from abroad but not Mustang? Why do we mostly wear jeans, t-shirts, skirts and gowns; and not daura-suruwal or gunyu-choli? Why do we wear caps and not dhaka-topis? And the answer is simple, because we live in a globalized world.
You want to watch a foreign movie? Fine, watch it. You want to watch porn instead? Great, watch it. You want to watch a Nepali film? Even better, go watch it right now. But whatever film you choose to watch should not be of any concern to others. Why should anyone judge me based on which film do I watch and what do I write about it on social media? And do you really want everyone to watch Nepali films only just because it’s a Nepali film and we should feel like, “Bichara, we should watch a Nepali films because the industry is poor”, or want us to watch the film because it’s actually good and worth our time?
Here’s an incident that took place few weeks ago. ‘Talakjung vs Tulke’ actress Reecha Sharma watched a Bollywood film called ‘Dear Zindagi’ starring Alia Bhatt and Shahrukh Khan. She liked the film so much that she wrote about it on her Facebook handle, not on her official page but her personal Facebook account. Do you know why do they call it a personal account? Because you get to write and post what you feel like; and not what others want you to post about. However, people were all over her post going ISIS against her, criticizing her why did she watch and praise a Bollywood film and all that shit. And we were like, “Hey bhagwan! Are these douche-bags for real? Like seriously??” Do you really want our actors and filmmakers to be a frog in the well? Shouldn’t they be watching foreign films and observing what’s the current status of the films abroad and learning something from them?
Entertainment in simple words is defined as, “The action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment”, and people, let others choose how they want themselves to be entertained. They want to watch a Nepali film? Let them. They want to watch a Bollywood film? Let them. They want to watch a Hollywood, Korean, French, Thai, Chinese or any other film? Let them. What gives anyone the right to set the rules for someone else?
We love Nepali film industry and we are proud of the progress it has been making lately. But we don’t want people to watch Nepali films out of sympathy. Come on, it’s a commercial industry, not charity. We want them to watch Nepali films if they are actually good. That’s it. One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that a person can watch and do whatever the fuck he wants to do, as long as it’s not unethical or illegal. Simple!
