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A group of strangers is traveling in the same vehicle through a dense forest at night. Everything is going fine in the journey when suddenly something appears in the middle of the road and unable to swerve away, the driver crashes the vehicle. The group is thus stranded in the middle of nowhere, unable to get help. On the top of that, the place they’re in seems to be haunted or has that creepy, eerie aura to it. Then they start getting killed one after another.

A rather clichéd plot for a horror movie, repeated multiple times over the years, right? Well, that’s what the freshly released “A Classic Horror Story” on Netflix wants to tell you. The Italian horror film, for which altogether four different writers take credit, at first feels like it’s a serious spoof of some iconic horror movies. But when you learn these allusions to classic horror movies are deliberate, you know “A Classic Horror Story” is not your run-of-the-mill horror flick.

Roberto De Feo and Paolo Strippoli direct this modern production that is intentionally styled after many classic horror movies. Five strangers—Elisa (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz), Fabrizio (Francesco Russo), Riccardo (Peppino Mazzotta), Mark (Will Merrick), and Sofia (Yuliia Sobol)—find themselves in a lurch when the RV they are taking crashes in the middle of the road somewhere in southern Italy. Everyone survives, but they find themselves on a clearing in a dense forest which seems to be inhabited by a cult that worships something sinister and performs human sacrifices.

Narrating the movie’s story without giving out spoilers is almost impossible. The film starts as a typical horror show but by the time you reach the second half, it tells you it is definitely not so. It then twists and turns so much that you get bewildered by the quick changes. It is a strange amalgamation of some iconic horror movies, and infused with some modern motifs to create a stylistically driven horror film that is a visual treat.

The film’s technical aspects, although the movie is seemingly under-budget compared to most Hollywood productions, are well-covered and become its highlights. More than the storytelling itself. The overall schematics, including the terrific cinematography, lighting, color grading, and background music, make this an enjoyable watch because of the visual and aural vibes it gives.

But the efforts put in by the actors as well as the production crew are somewhat discredited by the four writers of the film. Maybe a classic case of ‘too many cooks.’ Trying to cut too many corners in the film gives it a ‘wrong turn’, from where it never comes back. The direction also cannot save the film from going haywire.

To make matters worse, there are very few scary moments in the whole film. The makers have taken inspiration from classic horror movies but seem to have forgotten to emulate their shock factors. Even the ‘slasher film’ type of sequences lack the brutality and without much ingenuity, the film starts to bore by the time it reaches the second half. The makers keep the film short at 1hr 35mins and this is probably one of the wisest decisions they’ve made in making this film.

Who should watch it?

For those less acquainted with the niche world of hard-core horror films and those who prefer far less blood and gore than typical slasher flicks, A Classic Horror Story will not disappoint. It has all the elements to make for an interesting horror film, just not enough for someone whose toddler watches scary scenes from “Annabelle” and “The Nun” more than nursery rhymes.

Rating: 2.5 stars
Genre: Horror, thriller
Director: Roberto De Feo, Paolo Strippoli
Actors: Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Francesco Russo, Peppino Mazzotta, Yuliia Sobol
Run time: 1hr 35mins

As soon as news of the Supreme Court annulling Oli government’s House dissolution and appointing Sher Bahadur Deuba as new prime minister broke, common folks, as expected, started parsing the court decision on social media. A vigorous online debate ensued on Clubhouse, the voice chat social media app that was relatively unknown in Nepal even six months ago.   

After the country went back into lockdown starting April 29, Nepal’s urbanites again found themselves stuck in their homes with little to do. While the previous lockdown in 2020 saw Nepali internet users throng already popular social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok, this year, Clubhouse caught their imagination.

Initially designed only for iOS, the app released in April 2020 had become a global success within a year of its launch, picking up particularly after it opened for Android users. Clubhouse’s unique features and people’s ‘fear of missing out’ because of its invitation-only registration probably clicked with social media users all over the world and in Nepal.

Dharma Adhikari, a Nepali media commentator and professor of journalism at Shantou University in Guangdong, China, says Clubhouse’s popularity “is indicative of a shift from the online face-time we do so much these days to an extended form of interactive ear-time, especially during the pandemic”. He says the audio-based platform provides a less intrusive and yet casual, personable alternative to Zoom or other video conferencing platforms. Social media wise, “just as characters (text) are to Twitter, and video is to YouTube, audio, for now, is to Clubhouse”.

As Nepalis gathered in their masses to talk, listen, and be heard on a plethora of topics on Clubhouse, speculations started swirling whether Clubhouse and other similar social media apps were now a threat to traditional media outlets like radio, television, and even newspapers and online news portals. With power and control over media handed over to people and information being shared at the speed of light, this speculation was natural too.

But instead of audio-based social media apps making traditional platforms irrelevant, adds Adhikari, “They will complement the textual and visual media. After all, we have so much to tap into on the real-time and interactive potential of audio on social media”. 

Not in the design

Sanjay Gupta, a popular radio jockey and media-person, agrees. “No matter what people think, apps like Clubhouse will never replace radio or any other traditional media,” he says. Gupta, who is on Clubhouse and has also hosted a program on the app, has of late been unable to spend much time on it because of his work. “I love the fact that people are getting to speak out and express their opinions freely through the app. That’s the beauty of democracy. But no, it is not going to displace traditional media forms.”

Presa Shrestha, an RJ who also works in the corporate section of a popular media house, reiterates the same. She gives the example of the print media that was speculated to die soon after the advent of online media portals. But print continues to be relevant.

“Apps like Clubhouse can create a tough competition and change how traditional media operates,” says Shrestha, who has temporarily switched from radio to Clubhouse as she continues to moderate the ‘Off-Topic at 9’ room which has been running every day for the past two months. The room has over 9,000 followers and an average of 200-250 daily listeners, which is down from an average of 300-plus listeners a month ago. Shrestha labels her Clubhouse phase as temporary and says she will switch to radio as soon as the corona situation improves.

Journalist and social activist Bidushi Dhungel, who also engages in Clubhouse rooms both as a speaker and moderator, finds the live-stream podcast function of Clubhouse convenient as she can listen to the topics of her interest even while she’s doing other stuff. Also, news travels fast on Clubhouse and listeners can get minute-by-minute updates on the topics of their interest.

But replace traditional media? “No!” pat comes her reply. “I don’t think Clubhouse was designed to replace traditional media. What it does is give people who were not previously represented by traditional media a voice. It breaks the monopoly and self-censorship of traditional media.”

She adds that more than challenging traditional media, Clubhouse has changed the way conferences and conclaves are held in Nepal. It has eased the logistical hassles of finding speakers and audiences for different topics and helped diversify the speakers’ portfolio. “So now, instead of focusing on getting a bunch of people together for a conference, the organizers can deliberate on the ideas they want to discuss,” Dhungel says. “Still, this is only for a certain class of people who are interested in current affairs and not the common mass who still prefer traditional forms.” 

Business-wise

Besides politics and current affairs, the most discussed topic in Nepali Clubhouse at present is undoubtedly the Nepal Stock Exchange. There are daily NEPSE rooms and some have up to 5,000 participants. Investment and finance expert Mukti Aryal is a popular voice for the NEPSE audience. In the past two months since Clubhouse became popular in Nepal, Aryal has participated as a speaker in more than 30 NEPSE-related discussions. While he welcomes Clubhouse’s easy accessibility, Aryal also worries that “as it’s a loose format with no legal ownership and accountability over information, credibility might be an issue.”

The growing popularity of Clubhouse also creates various business opportunities. While Clubhouse users like Shrestha, Dhungel, and Aryal are satisfied with creating and curating content for the discussion rooms they participate in, Truebug Technology, a Kathmandu-based IT company, has identified commercial opportunities in the app.

Truebug has opened accounts called “Clubhouse Nepal” on Facebook and Instagram to specifically promote Clubhouse sessions hosted by Nepali individuals or groups. Through well-designed flyers posted regularly, the Clubhouse Nepal pages give vital information on upcoming discussions. “We’re doing it purely out of interest right now,” says Suraj Kumar Shrestha, CEO of Truebug. “But as its popularity grows, there might be business opportunities in this too.”

Shrestha says Nepalis host 20-25 discussion rooms a day on Clubhouse. The number of participants is also high and the Clubhouse Nepal social media pages are getting high engagement for the detailed information they give out. “People want to advertise their events on our pages and even the business community is showing an interest,” adds Shrestha. 

Still, replacing traditional media is a far-fetched idea for Shrestha as well. For those who are not tech-friendly or do not have the time to engage in long discussions, radio, TV, and newspapers are always going to be the main sources of information. “Clubhouse itself is getting serious competition from other apps with similar features,” says Shrestha.

Costs and benefits

Sunita Raut, faculty at the Central Department of Sociology, Tribhuvan University, too believes social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, and now Clubhouse give common folks the power over information dissemination. Yet she is also concerned. “Social media sites are mushrooming and people are engaging in them haphazardly, without considering possible consequences,” Raut says. “I think a lot of users are unaware of the darker sides of high social media exposure.”

Traditional media houses are established means of communications and their reliability and validity are time-tested. They have been integrated into the societies and are liable in case of misinformation. Social media apps, on the other hand, are just business and marketing tools, Raut explains, which exploit people’s gullibility. “So whatever social media apps have come in the recent years, they’ve already peaked. Look at Tiktok, which has now been banned in a few countries,” explains Raut. “Hence the traditional media platforms, which give a balanced picture, will always remain relevant.”

For 27-year-old Sudeep Sapkota who works in a home repairs and maintenance company, Clubhouse is a ‘dirty app’ that his friends talked about frequently. At their urging, he installed the app, went to ‘adult 18+ rooms’, and found himself embarrassed. He immediately uninstalled the app.

Asked if he tried finding something more productive on Clubhouse, Sapkota replies that it was not his cup of tea. “I am fine getting my information from radio and TV. I don’t think the app is for people like me,” Sapkota says.

Sexagenarian Ram Krishna Bhandari, who goes out on his morning walk rounds with a pocket radio, could not agree more. Bhandari’s radio is audible to everyone as he makes the rounds of his colony. “I use Facebook to connect with my family living abroad and that’s it. I do not even listen to music on my phone,” says Bhandari. “Radio and newspaper keep me informed and I still have some old tapes I listen to time and again. I don’t know about any Clubhouse, nor am I bothered to find out.”

Adhikari, the media professor, says Nepalis, thanks to the remarkable expansion of radio in the country over the years and our historically aural culture, are already primed for audio-based social media such as Clubhouse. But, in the end, much like any other media platform, “sustenance is a real issue, and given the demands for oversight and moderation, the questions of quality, credibility, and civility will only become louder”. 

“I wrote my first line of computer code, in QBASIC programming language, when I was 11. That same year, I failed in my school computer class,” recalls Yogesh Ojha. Now 24, Ojha is a prolific programmer and security researcher whose feats are being globally recognized. Currently in Bangalore, India and working as a Research Engineer for TRG Research and Development—a Cyprus-based technology company—Ojha’s primary focus is on building intelligent cyber solutions that help secure people’s lives in the virtual world. “My dad, a school teacher, did not take the failing well and I was punished. This became a motivating factor for me to pursue computer science,” Ojha narrates.

Growing up, Ojha was fascinated by how computers worked, mainly how behind-the-scenes codes created programs that everyone could run. He remembers playing GTA Vice City in 6th grade when he opened the Gta.exe file with a notepad and saw some cryptic letters, a bunch of numbers, and lots of special characters. He was mesmerized. He then began exploring the secret world of computer codes and also tinkering around with hardware.

Having worked as a security analyst for Tata Consultancy Services—one of the largest IT companies in the world—Ojha has also presented his knowledge and skills in global technology events like Hack the Box, Abu Dhabi; GreHack, France; KazHackStan, Kazakhstan; Open-Source Summit China and North America, to name a few. Ojha has also been selected to present at the Black Hat USA 2021, a prestigious global event for the cybersecurity community. “I am also presenting at DEF CON 29, which is one of the largest and most reputed hacker conventions in the world,” adds Ojha. “As per my knowledge, no Nepali has ever presented at both these events before.”

Born and brought up at Dhangadhi, Ojha’s journey from Dhangadhi to Kathmandu and then to Bangalore for further studies coincides with his interests turning from programming to cybersecurity. “I believe curiosity is what drives us, humans, towards innovation, plus the desire to achieve something different. I guess that happened to me as well,” says Ojha. The computer science graduate started exploring the realms of hacking and cybersecurity while in college, also managing to hack the Mi Fitness Tracker and presenting the findings at an international conference in Singapore.

Ojha’s biggest achievement for far, as he describes himself, is his automated reconnaissance framework called reNgine that he released after months of hard work in July 2019. In layman’s terms, reNgine is a framework that helps read and identify security issues with any web application, doing reconnaissance work to identify possible threats on websites.

“The idea came to me when I was working as a security analyst and had to perform penetration testing on web applications all day,” says Ojha. “The process was repetitive and tedious. So I decided to automate it.” This automation saves hours and hours of work for cyber-security workers, saving energy and resources as well, Ojha claims. reNgine—abbreviated for reconnaissance engine—has the ability to customize scan engines and do end-to-end reconnaissance and vulnerability scan.

The best part of reEngine, however, is that it is created as an open-source tool and can be downloaded/customized absolutely free. “It has been downloaded by thousands of developers around the world and featured on the trending list in Github, a website for software downloads,” explains Ojha. “I could have sold it for several hundred thousand dollars, at the least, but releasing this as an open source has also become a reason I like to get up in the morning. So, I am happy with it.”

Nepal, one of the weakest countries in the world in terms of cybersecurity, has a lot to do to secure its internet, says Ojha. There have been quite a few attacks on both private and government websites in recent years where hackers took over websites and asked for ransoms or leaked the users’ private data.

This is happening primarily because Nepali companies and government allocate very little resources on security and threat management. Also, with its low income potential, professionals do not prefer cybersecurity as a career in Nepal. “But in the past couple of years, we have seen an increase in the number of people getting into bug bounty hunting. This is great news because this way, more Nepalis can join cyber security.”

For meme lovers and connoisseurs of contemporary online humor in our part of the world, the name Sachin Tichkule is likely to ring a bell. Especially when they are out and about in the monsoon and see roads flooded for lack of drainage, and potholes so big, they could almost be a swimming pool for toddlers. The ones acquainted with the life and times of the iconic contractor Sachin Tichkule can’t help but look for him on the streets of Kathmandu, running behind a road-roller or watching over road maintenance. 

In the 2010 Hindi-language movie “Khatta Meetha”, Sachin Tichkule (Akshay Kumar) is the man next door. He is a contractor from a respectable middle-class family who has big dreams and small coffers. With no means to pay bribes to get his hands on lucrative government contracts, Tichkule struggles to stay in business, even as his family loses faith in him.

To cope with the corrupt system, Sachin in his own wayward ways tries to be a part of the corrupt system, fighting with his self-respect while trying to succeed in his career. And luck is not on his side. Not only does he have to deal with a skeptical family and corrupt bureaucrats, the arrival of his ex-girlfriend, Gehna Ganpule (Trisha), as the area’s municipal commissioner makes matters worse. Gehna holds a grudge against Sachin because of their bitter past; she is also a strict government official and would have nothing to do with his frivolous shenanigans. 

The story of Khatta Meetha is simple yet relatable, especially in a corrupt country like ours. Written and directed by master filmmaker Priyadarshan himself, the film takes political satire to the ground level. It shows how even the smallest players in a country’s economic ecosystem could be spoiled by the greed of corrupt bureaucrats and businesspersons. The fragile morality of humans is questioned and provoked in this cleverly written film. 

Unfortunately, Priyadarshan tries to do more than narrate the struggles of Sachin Tichkule, which would have made the film more organic and realistic. Instead, the writer/director takes the focus away from Sachin in the second half to weave conspiracy theories that do not gel with the film’s opening half. Maybe this was one reason the film did not do so well at the box office when it was released. 

Still, the televised reruns of Khatta Meetha and its availability on YouTube have helped gained this film a cult following, with numerous online memes being dedicated to its characters, just like the earlier Priyadarshan-Akshay Kumar combo “Hera Pheri” (2000), which was initially a box-office dud. Khatta Meetha has a similar track record but it does not come close to the hilarious magnanimity of Hera Pheri by any chance. 

All-in-all the movie does not have an elaborate production design. As mentioned, the film portrays a part of our society almost like it exactly is. There are comparatively fewer exaggerations than most Bollywood films but it does not completely shun fictional liberties to become an arthouse cinema. It’s kind of a delectable mix of both. 

Despite Priyadarshan’s witty writing and direction, the film has its share of shortcomings. But here steps in the energetic Akshay Kumar who gives it a lift. To play Sachin Tichkule, the actor—one of the highest-grossing in the industry and also known for his versatility—has to shirk his stardom and manifest life as a common man. This, the actor does with such commitment that the character and the actor become inseparable. Also aiding Kumar with the comedy sequences is actor Rajpal Yadav as Rangeela, Sachin’s aide and confidante. Together the duo spins one magical moment after another. 

Who should watch it?

Many of you have probably watched Khatta Meetha already. But even if you have, this is one movie a lot of people won’t mind revisiting. Though not a box office hit, the movie, which portrays pervasive corruption and government apathy, was pretty relevant in the past and is equally so now. 

Rating: 3 stars
Drama
Cast: Akshya Kumar, Trisha Krishnan, Rajpal Yadav, Johnny Lever
Direction: Priyadarshan
Length: 2hr 38min

The web series “Ray,” created by Sayantan Mukherjee and based on short stories of the famous Indian auteur and writer Satyajit Ray, occupied enough space on my social media this week to make me give up everything else and gobble up the entire series in a single sitting. That’s the power of social media influence and since its release on June 25, Ray has been exercising full control over social media with people recommending the series without a second thought.

The anthology, written for the screen by Niren Bhatt and Siraj Ahmed and directed by Srijit Mukherji, Abhishek Chaubey and Vasan Bala, contains four different stories originally penned by Satyajit Ray. Although the stories are of completely different people and places, they are all identical in the sense that they revolve around the psyche of their central characters and how they interact with their respective environments. The series weighs heavily on its main characters to retell Ray’s stories, with each episode tinged with suspense, a stylistic signature of the master storyteller.

Ray begins with “Forget Me Not” where Ipsit Rama Nair (Ali Fazal), a successful entrepreneur known to have a sharp, computer-like mind that never forgets suddenly finds himself searching for lost memories after a mysterious encounter with someone from his past.

Next, in “Bahrupiya,” Indrashish (Kay Kay Menon), a regular office employee and a part-time make-up artist struggling with work and his love life comes across an unexpected inheritance. Alongside a large amount of money, Indrashish gets a book on the art of makeup and prosthetics from his recently deceased grandmother, forever changing his life.

In a train journey, two strangers sharing a compartment quickly befriend each other. A popular performer Musafir Ali (Manoj Bajpayee) and a wrestler-turned-sports journalist Aslam Beig (Gajraj Rao) become drinking buddies in “Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa.” But it turns out that the strangers share a past, the recollection of which haunts one of them throughout the journey.

“Spotlight”—the final act in the series—is about a celebrated actor Vikram ‘Vik’ Arora (Harshvardhan Kapoor) who is going through an existential crisis as critics slam him: he supposedly has no acting talent besides his looks. Vikram’s insecurities are augmented when a religious figure called ‘Didi’ (Radhika Madan) appears at the resort he is staying in and completely takes the spotlight away from him.

As a series, Ray is one of the best things to happen to Indian filmmaking in 2021. The individual, independent episodes both excite and disappoint. “Forget Me Not” seems to hit the hardest with its dark, cynical climax and the sheer brutality of the characters involved. The beginning and end of this episode flow on entirely different tangents, unsettling the audience.

“Bahrupiya” wants to carry on with the same darkness, but fails. The story of a simpleton Indrashish turned into a sinister criminal needed some more screen time to be better told. Despite the seasoned Kay Kay Menon’s brilliant performance, the episode is underwhelming, to say the least.

“Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa” is light, poetic, and musical. The two main characters share almost equal screen time and are a treat to watch in their elements. Shot almost entirely in a train compartment, the audience will not miss anything else while the two veteran actors Bajpayee and Rao spread their charm on screen.

For newcomer Harshvardhan Kapoor and his “Spotlight”, Ray is a group of death. Not only is he pitted against some of the best in the industry, his episode is also aired last in the series after the audience has soaked in so much entertainment that it’ll need an absolute banger to raise their interest. Surprisingly, the actor does a better job in this episode than in all of his past performances. But this time, the storytelling, direction and his lead co-actor do him dirty.

Who should watch it?

The episodes getting slightly negative reviews in the series are because they’re being compared with each other. Outside the series, every episode of Ray is way more remarkable than maybe 70 percent of the Hindi-language films/series released this year. This is a series a regular OTT viewer should not miss.

Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Drama
Actors: Ali Fazal, Kay Kay Menon, Harshvardhan Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee
Directors: Srijit Mukherji, Abhishek Chaubey, Vasan Bala
Run time: 3.8hrs approx.

YouTube time this week, and I wanted to check out films I had missed watching in recent years that were officially available on the app. After trying a couple of Nepali movies and barely making it through more than 45-minute each, I gave up and searched for some Bollywood flicks, expecting to find something that’d delight me.

I came across the trailer for the 2016 Bollywood thriller “Madaari” and the first few scenes with the late Irrfan Khan delivering massive punchlines blew me over. I had to find the movie online, which I luckily did on Cinekorn Movie’s YouTube channel.

Madaari is a movie cliché: a story about a common man fighting the system as we’ve seen in hundreds of films. But its protagonist Nirmal Kumar (Khan) is the anti-hero we all want to be. He is not this larger-than-life fighter who literally punches his way through the walls of social injustice or the trigger-friendly vigilante who blows up ‘villains’. Kumar is a common man who is wronged by the system and instead of accepting it as his fate he plans to fight against it. He is determined, yet scared; calculative yet vulnerable.

Rohan (Vishesh Bansal), the only son of Home Minister Prashant Goswami (Tushar Dalvi), gets kidnapped from his hostel one day. Following the high-profile kidnapping, there’s a storm of investigations all over the city, led by CBI officer Nachiket Verma (Jimmy Sheirgill). The kidnapper has vanished without a trace with Rohan and the only ransom he demands is that the government finds the whereabouts of his son, who was lost in an act of government negligence. Our protagonist Nirmal is the kidnapper here and as the story unfolds, the audience realizes what made him turn from a loving family man to a ruthless kidnapper.

This is the story of Madaari written by Shailja Kejriwal and Ritesh Shah (screenplay/dialogue). The writers have taken a cliché and weaved the narration with suspense, mystery, and a lot of emotion. Kumar’s fight becomes every common person’s and the fact that he is a kidnapper (sic criminal) is lost as we empathize with him and want to see him get justice. But what happens, in the end, is for you to find out.

The year 2016 saw the release of ‘blockbusters’ like “Sultan” and “Dangal”. Understandable why a film like Madaari would have been neglected by Bollywood audiences and the critics alike at the time. Still, one can’t feel sorry for how such a gripping thriller remains obscure. Maybe because it does not appeal to the larger masses without high-flying action sequences and peppy item numbers.

Also, the film’s not perfect. There are a few lapses in the screenplay and the 2h 13mins-long film tends to lose pace at times, but the better parts make up for everything. Nishikant Kamat’s direction seems to bring out the best in Irrfan Khan, who embodies the soul of his character. Even the film’s dialogues with heavy punchlines feel tailored for Khan’s voice. Khan expresses every word with the conviction of an everyday man the system has driven to desperation.

In the scenes with Rohan, his victim Nirmal never bears the maliciousness of a kidnapper. He is still a harmless, caring father desperately seeking closure. The complexities in Nirmal’s life and how well Khan peels each layer of his character’s existence drive the film. The supporting cast also comes with its share of convincing performances but Khan is the film’s heart and soul. 

Who should watch it?

Most film lovers who like my selection of films have probably already watched Madaari. This is the kind of film you can revisit every few years. If you haven’t watched, you’ve missed an important film that defines the career of late Khan. Khan, in this movie, reinforces his legacy and goes on to prove no one else can replace him in the industry. His flawless performance in this film will make you miss him even more.

Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Drama, thriller
Actors: Irrfan Khan, Tushar Dalvi, Jimmy Sheirgill
Director: Nishikant Kamat
Run time: 2hrs 13 mins

With over 16 years of operating experience, the F1Soft Group is one of the biggest technology companies in Nepal and a proven pioneer in fintech (financial technology). F1Soft has created an ecosystem of digital products and services, including the very first and the most popular eSewa and Fonepay services that started a digital revolution in the country.

Catering to growing the needs of Nepali customers, F1Soft has been facilitating consumers’ access to financial services and enabling their inclusion in the formal digital economy with a diversified portfolio of Digital Financial Services (DFS). A team of 700+ management and technology professionals, more than 10 years of research and innovations and thousands of clients, F1Soft is a major influencer of fintech services in the Nepali market.

Sunny Mahat for ApEx talks to Subash Sharma, CEO of F1Soft International Pvt. Ltd, about the growing opportunities of fintech services in Nepal and the effects of the pandemic.

How do you see the growth trajectory of fintech services, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic?

In the past year, especially after the pandemic, we have experienced an encouraging growth in digital payments. Our conventional way of conducting business has been disrupted. Every business has been looking to adapt to the new normal. People are actively looking at ways to continue and identify better ways to conduct their businesses.

This has created new opportunities for fintech companies to partner with businesses in multiple aspects. Our platforms, especially eSewa and Fonepay, have seen increased transactions that include bank-to-bank fund transfers, utility bill payments and QR payments.

But when you talk about fintech services and the industry, it is not limited to payments. F1Soft is looking to develop innovative products to target other aspects of financial services. Last year we launched Foneloan, a digital lending platform. This has already been launched with more than five banks. Customer interest in the product has been exciting. This shows our customer base is ready for multiple digital financial services. We as a company focused on fintech are looking to introduce multiple products based on customers’ interest and demands.

Like most technology companies in the country, does F1Soft also face the challenge of high employee turnover?

Yes, high employee turnover is a pressing issue among all technology companies in Nepal. Compared to the industry, we are better positioned to handle the impact. F1Soft is proud to say that our employee retention rate is one of the best in the industry. At F1Soft, we have been able to instill a sense of achievement in our employees and they are proud to see the impact their work has created in the country and the economy.

What could be done to stop the ‘brain drain’ of technology professionals?

‘Brain drain’ is a big issue not just for us but for almost all the developing economies. It is not necessary to always see this as a disadvantage. Often, we have seen people gathering experience and exposure on a bigger stage which can be a huge advantage back home if they ever decide to return or send projects or create partnerships between the local companies and their international business partners.

Stopping brain drain is not just an issue to be handled by individual companies but at the level of the national economy. If our economy can grow faster, we will create attractive opportunities for our young talents. This will definitely help us retain our talents.

What next for eSewa and Fonepay, both of which have had great success?

eSewa has been in the digital wallet and payment industry for the past 12 years. Compared to the days we started when there was no payment infrastructure, today we have a robust infrastructure for digital payments. eSewa is credited for taking the lead in this. Today, we have created an industry and there are multiple companies working in this space including the ones promoted by big business houses. Fonepay has entered the market at the right time to promote digital payments by creating a common network of banks/financial institutions and wallets, and by promoting interoperability.

Though we have already created a robust infrastructure, we have not been able to influence more than 5 percent of the transactions; 95 percent of the market is still untapped. Our immediate focus is to increase adoption and become more inclusive.

Do you think digital money will ever have a dominance over paper money in Nepal?

Honestly speaking, in an economy like ours, I don’t see digital payments completely replacing paper money in the near future. But what is certain is digital payments will continue to grow as they promote convenience and transparency. With the growing need for businesses to be more transparent and customers always looking for convenient ways to make payments, digital payment is on the way to becoming more preferred. If we observe current trends, we see digital payments becoming the dominant form of payment in five years. We see usage of cash decline for all forms of payments. The future is less-cash rather than completely cashless.

I only have one rule in life. When a Dhanush film releases, I have to watch it first day, first show, especially when it is premiering globally on multiple digital platforms on the same day. I’m kidding. But I am 100 percent sure there are enough Dhanush fans around the world who follow the first-day-first-show rule, online or off. The South Indian movie star’s latest “Jagame Thandhiram” (transl. The Universe is a ruse) probably also got the same reception on its June 18 Netlfix release as it has been on ‘trending’ since. 

Written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj, the Tamil-language (also available in other Hindi languages) gangster movie draws a lot of inspiration from Hollywood while keeping the vibrancy of South Indian cinema alive. One of the biggest names from the South, with a string of successive hits under his belt, Dhanush delivers another power-packed performance in the lead role, maintaining the flawless consistency he’s had most of his career. 

Suruli (Dhanush), a small-time gangster and paratha chef from a small Tamil Nadu town, is headhunted by a London-based gang to work for them. Lured by the prospect of earning huge money and to escape some gang war-related problems at home, Suruli leaves for England to work under Peter Sprott (James Cosmo), a politically-connected gangster and white supremacist. 

Dhanush’s job there is to eliminate Peter’s arch-rival Sivadoss (Joju George), a Sri Lankan Tamilian gangster who is also the rescuer of illegal immigrants and refugees coming into London, something that Peter hates him most for. Suruli, with his ruthless cunning, manages to destroy Sivadoss’ gang and to have him killed at Peter’s hands. But Suruli also meets another Sri Lankan migrant Attilla (Aishwarya Lekshmi) and falls in love with her. As their lives intertwine, Suruli realizes he has chosen the wrong side and decides to make reparations.

Jagame Thandiram is fashioned like a Hollywood gangster epic. Its storyline, setting, the way it begins by introducing each of the main characters, feels like the film is mirroring an old-school gangster movie. The background scores, OSTs, and also the film’s length of 2h 37mins strengthen the similarities. But Jagame Thandiram is not a Hollywood film.

Right from the opening scenes, you know you are being taken into the Tamil Cinematic Universe where you expect a hero with all the swagger and jive in the world who is always a step ahead of the villain and who has a heart of gold despite being morally compromised. Suruli is that hero for you and Dhanush, with the immense talent he exfoliates, makes you live through the TCU without even realizing you are being shown an atrociously fictional sequence of events that disregard basic logic. But you don’t watch action movies for logic, do you?

Produced to be an all-out action film, Jagame Thandhiram’s story also has undertones of refugee issues and migrant crisis. Some flashbacks show the civil war in Sri Lanka and the exodus of Tamilians from the country to Europe in search of safety. But the filmmakers do not delve deeper as they probably wanted their content to be light enough for mass consumption. 

And mass appeal, Jagame Thandhiram does have, despite some major flaws in storytelling and the film’s unclear timeline. Dhanush is the biggest appeal but on the downside, as he outshines everyone else, any scene without him dips in energy. Dhanush is a fireball in Jagame Thandhiram and that’s both a curse and a boon for the movie. The film’s music and cinematography are the only elements that seem to match Dhanush’s energy and combined, their synergy just blows you away in some scenes. 

Who should watch it?

Jagame Thandhiram is exactly what had been missing from Netflix’s new releases section for some time. The film, as suggested above, attempts to put itself in the leagues of Hollywood gangster movies. Honestly, it falls way short. Still, the combination of Dhanush’s acting skills put to test in a film that almost entirely revolves around him, with brilliant cinematography and intense background music/OSTs, makes this film worth the time for movie lovers of all sorts. 

Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Action, drama
Actors: Dhanush, Joju George, James Cosmo
Director: Karthik Subbaraj