The subject of drug addiction is not new to Nepali film and music industries – there have been quite a lot of works that revolve around the same. In recent years only; we have had Yama Buddha’s ‘Sathi’ song, Pradeep Khadka’s debut feature film ‘Escape’, and even CG Entertainment and Sisan Baniya’s short film ‘Heroism’ that talked about addiction and its effects. So, it’s not unusual to see a new short film that is based on the same and well, here we have, a short film titled ‘Bholi Dekhi Chhodi Dinchhu’ which, as we are talking about, is based on drug addiction.

But what might surprise you is the fact that it comes from Lucent Films, and Bikash Baraily whose earlier works were the music videos for ‘Baal Ho’ and ‘Whoz Yo Daddy?’

Right. The director who made such ‘extravagant’ and ‘not-so-serious’ music videos came up with a short film that actually is meaningful and sensible. Pretty surprising!

We’re pretty sure many people can already relate with the film because of its title ‘Bholi Dekhi Chhodi Dinchhu‘ – a phrase that many of us have been saying for months and even years when talking about quitting smoking or drinking but the ‘bholi’ has not yet arrived because as they say, tomorrow never comes. The best thing about this film is its promising lead actor Nayan Raj Panday. The performance of the 21-year-old student who is currently studying acting at Mountain View Community College in Dallas is so powerful that you don’t even realize when the first seven minutes of the film have ended.

From Panday’s expressions to his dialogue delivery, he is so much into his character that you actually feel like you are in front of an addict who is telling you his story in person. Though the film talks about an extremely serious subject, it never gets too preachy or boring and keeps the audience entertained. The film is mostly shot in a single room with the focus on only one character, and Baraily – who also shot and edited, along with directing, the film – has done a pretty good job with camera works and edits as well. The film written by Suman Poudel also has Nayan Acharya, Sajan Karki, Sandeep Shahi, Sylvia Woli and others who are seen during the climax of the film.

Watch the film first, and continue reading what else we have to say about it.

Now talking about the climax – spoiler alert if you’ve not seen it already – it turns out that the lead character isn’t actually a drug addict but an actor who is there to audition for a film role; and that’s a pretty interesting twist. Whether the last part was actually needed or not, it surely did make the film stand out from other films that are based on the same subject. And that very climax should not change the fact that no matter the character was not an addict and his friend didn’t die of overdose, this film tells the story of many people who were or still are addicted and how badly not only their but even their loved ones’ lives have been affected because of it. Drugs Kill!