Nepali cinema does not have a very long history, but the industry has its own place in the cultural heritage of the country, often referred to as “Nepali Chalchitra.”
Director Anmol Gurung shares his exclusive conversation on his upcoming movie “Appa”. The movie is produced by Ruden Sada Lepcha.
Hello Mr. Anmol. First of all, I would like to know about your upcoming movie Appa. What is Appa based on?
Anmol Gurung: ‘Appa’ basically in my language (Nepali) or high mountain language is a father. Appa is the story of a father and son. It is a simple story but we are trying to present things that we have known so far about a father-son relationship but we have missed taking notice of it. So, Appa is basically a presentation in which the story starts in a place called Sandakpur which is the highest peak in Darjeeling and also falls between the border of India and Nepal. In that part, the ‘four-wheeler, Land Rover is driven. These cars are really old, like World War II cars. So, the story is about a driver, named Birkhe who drives one of these cars. And I’m very happy to say that Appa is a story about two different cultures or two different societies of people meeting together. So, there is a group of Bengali family that travels with this driver and then an accident happens, everybody dies, except the driver and a little Bengali boy. The story begins with that; an extremely beautiful story of a father and a son.
So this relationship of father and son is between the driver and this little boy who survived?
Anmol Gurung: Yes, yes. It’s between them.
That’s indeed unique, I guess?
Anmol Gurung: Yes, I suppose so. (laughs)
Where did you do the shooting for this movie?
Anmol Gurung: Shooting for this movie, as I said has been done in India-Nepal border, the majority in Kalimpong.
Who are the casts of Appa?
Anmol Gurung: We have 5 principle characters in this movie. The supreme character is played by Dayahang Rai; one of the finest actor and superstar in Nepal, then we have the veteran filmmaker Mr. Tulsi Ghimiray and Aruna Karki. Apart from them, we are launching two new faces, Siddharth Tamang and Allona Kabo Lepcha.
There is a song in your movie, ‘Hawa Sararara’, that has already crossed 1 million views on YouTube. So what is your expectation from the movie?
Anmol Gurung: I have high expectations from the movie. I really believe that people will love it. I’m proud to say that all the views for the song, the trailer and everything associated with this movie are organic. Hence, I’m expecting that people will come and watch the movie.
Even I have watched the video of that song (Hawa Sararara). Indeed it was soothing and it had such an eye-pleasing scenery.
Anmol Gurung: I’m so glad that you liked it.
Some of the things that caught my eyes in that song were the iconic term “Babumoshai.” dialogue from Sholay and other glimpses of Bollywood. How did you come up with these ideas?
Anmol Gurung: Basically this character of a driver, ‘Birkhe’ played by Dayahang Rai is a cinema lover. He is a filmy guy and loves enacting his favorite characters. This song was shot on the roads of Darjeeling just like ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani’. So, Birkhe thinks himself to be Rajesh Khanna at times, and then he has a unique way of presenting his gaadi (Land Rover), and his passengers too. He sometimes thinks himself to be Shahrukh Khan and flirts with the co-passenger just by looking her at the glass. The core thing is that the guy is a filmy one and hence we incorporated such things into it.
What was the complete budget for making this movie?
Anmol Gurung: Hmm… we are trying not to disclose that. But it was a pretty good budget. We have a lot of people in this movie and we could pay them all on time (laughs).
When can we expect to see Appa on-screen and which cities are you targeting to release in India?
Anmol Gurung: In India, we are targeting in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Siliguri, Sikkim, Guwahati, Shillong, Kolkata, New Delhi, Kharagpur, etc. Basically, the movie will be released in 25 cities in India on the 28th of June and the good thing is that we are coming to Guwahati tomorrow. There is a press conference for our movie.
Is this move releasing only in Nepali language or will there be a dubbed version of it?
Anmol Gurung: Currently, we are releasing in Nepali language but we have plans to release it in Bengali and Hindi because the message of the movie is universal. So, of course we are thinking of dubbing this movie.
Any message for the audience regarding ‘Appa?’
Anmol Gurung: I think in a family, the father is always underappreciated in terms of expression of love. We easily express our love to our mothers, sisters and brothers, except our father, you know. We think our fathers are very rude and strict but in reality, they are emotionally soft and weak. I think this time, let’s all of us celebrate our fathers. A daughter or a son can take their father for a movie date and even the wives can take their husbands for a movie date. So this time, we all will celebrate father’s day together and I really want them to come to the theaters and watch this movie. I’m hopeful that this will help them to make their bonds stronger.
Anything else you would like to share?
Anmol Gurung: I’m eagerly waiting to come to Assam and dance on Bihu songs (laughs).
I wish you all the luck for the movie.
Anmol Gurung: Thank you! I really appreciate it.
CREDIT LIST
- Cast : Daya Hang Rai / Siddarth Raj Tamang / Allona Kabo Lepcha/ Tulsi Ghimiray/ Aruna Karki
- Background Score : Saikat Dev
- Poster Design : Ananda K. Maharjan
- Publicity Stills : Jonah Gurung
- Editor : Nimesh Shrestha
- Asst. Director : Ruchi Dyeksang /Rajan / Naren Tamang / Drishti Baghdas
- Production Managers : Puskar Singer
- Art Director : Bishan Tirva and Yozna Pradhan
- Make Up: Sharon Uttangi and Anu Rai
- Dress : Sumini Mukhia
- Equipment : Cine Creations Siliguri
- Kitchen : Suman and Team
- Transportation : Topaz/ Abhidan / Nirmal and Team
- Digital Rights : MOUNTAIN STORIES
- Distribution : Station 5(inside valley), FD company(outside valley) Dream Theatre Distributors
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