Yep, it’s been that long — five years since ‘Bola Maya’ was released.
In May of 2018, Prakash Saput dropped the music video for ‘Bola Maya’ and it became so huge it surpassed his previous hit ‘Dohori Battle’ with Preeti Ale to become his most streamed song on YouTube. The song told the story of a couple who were high school sweet hearts, got married and then the hubby had to fly abroad for work. A tragedy faced by thousands of families in Nepal — he returns home in a coffin, leaving behind his old parents and a pregnant wife.
A year later, May of 2019; he released ‘Galbandi’ — a prequel to ‘Bola Maya’. While the latter was a tragic song, ‘Galbandi’ was a fun and happy song that had the couple flirting as they faced each other during dohori battle, before they got married. It was a flashback story told by the wife — who is now a mother — to his son who asks her about his dad. Even though a jolly song, the music video didn’t really end on a happy note as the mother finds out that her son had fled the village after the people there chased him away.
Prakash Saput has now come up with the third installment in the music video series, and this time he touches the subject of caste discrimination. ‘Damai Maharaj’ is written, composed and performed by Prakash himself and also features Shanti Shree Pariyar on vocals. With Ratna BK on flute and Kharka Budha Magar and Poshan Gharti Magar on madal; the song has Sanjeev Baraili on guitar and Bhuwan Gandharva on dholak and tabla.
Apart from the audio, Prakash has also led the music video with his direction — also playing the leading role on-screen.
The music video reveals what had happened to the child character. *Spoilers ahead, so you might wanna watch the video first* He had fled from the village after the villagers came after him as he had entered the temple. The villagers got furious as he was “damini ko chhora” and even tore down the temple as they thought it had got impure after he entered there.
After 12 years of hard-work, he then became a Guru and was invited to his village for a week long Mahayagya to raise donations to re-build the same temple. But the villagers didn’t know the Guru was the same kid they had thrown out of the village over a decade ago; and it’s revealed only at the climax by himself. Then comes his mother — played by Anjali Adhikari — who is welcomed by the crowd.
The three music videos combined have a total runtime of a little over 48 minutes. It’s definitely a good series. Kudos to Prakash Saput and everyone involved.
