‘Mauri Rasaima’ tops YouTube trends

The latest Nepali lok dohori song, ‘Mauri Rasaima’, has taken the internet by storm, securing the top spot on YouTube’s trending chart. Released on June 6, the song is a collaboration between celebrated singers Arjun Sapkota and Kalpana Bista, with lyrics penned by Rabin Lamichhane and composition by Sapkota.

Within just a few days of its release, ‘Mauri Rasaima’ has garnered around two million views, reflecting its widespread popularity and resonance with audiences.

Music video of ‘Manai Marigo’ launched

Singers Shreedhar Adhikari and Kalpana Bista have brought the new song ‘Manai Marigo’ to the Nepali music market. Penned by Santosh Sapkota, the song is composed by Adhikari and was published on Adhikari’s YouTube channel on Monday.

Mixing and mastering in the song is done by Ranjan Rai while the music arranger is Bishal Niroula. The song was recorded in Alankar Digital. 

Earlier, lyricist Sapkota had released a new music video titled ‘Baseu Alakkai’. The song featured female singer Shanti Shree Pariyar alongside Arjun Sapkota, Garima Sharma, and Biraj Banskota in the cast. 

With ‘Baseu Alakkai’, Sapkota had debuted as a songwriter. Sapkota, now 26, has also been working as a social media manager for several well-known faces in Nepal and India.

Arjun, Santosh release new song

Singer Arjun Sapkota and lyricist Santosh Sapkota have released a new music video titled ‘Baseu Alakkai’. The song features female singer Shanti Shree Pariyar alongside Arjun Sapkota, Garima Sharma, and Biraj Banskota in the cast. 

The music is composed by Arjun Sapkota, with arrangement, mixing, and mastering handled by HBN Kismat. Recordist Raj Khadka contributes to the production. Additionally, instrumentalists include Madan Regmi on Madal, Hemanta Kanchha Rasaily on Sarangi, and Gopal Dev on Flute. The music video has featured Shibu Pandey and Badal Ghimire as guest artists. 

With the song, Santosh Sapkota has debuted as a songwriter. Santosh, now 26, has also been working as a social media manager for several well-known faces in Nepal and India.

Born in Parbat, Santosh completed his schooling in Rupandehi and moved to Bangalore, India, to receive a diploma in mechanical engineering in 2013. Little did he know that his career would totally change. Completing the diploma in 2015, Santosh worked for two years in Bangalore as a service supervisor in Sri Manjunatha Pipes and returned to Nepal in 2018. In Nepal, he got his hands on a job as a service advisor in one of the companies of Agni Group, namely Agni Motoinc Pvt Ltd. But things took a different route in 2017 when he became an admin of the Facebook fan page for Arujn Sapkota, his cousin who had started his journey as a Nepali folk singer. He was unable to complete his engineering studies due to some family and financial issues. Nevertheless, he had not lost his hope.

Santosh’s journey showcases the unpredictable paths life can take. Despite facing challenges and detours, he found a new passion in songwriting. 

Three feel-good movies to watch this weekend

Weekends are meant for some much-needed rest and relaxation. And what better way could there be to unwind than watch a feel-good movie while having something you’ve been craving all week. Here, we recommend our top three favorites.

Is Love Enough? Sir (2018) 

Romance | Drama

Run time: 1h 39m

Directed by Rohena Gera

Starring Tillotama Shome, Vivek Gomber

Rohena Gera’s ‘Is Love Enough? Sir’ features an uncommon love story between two different people. The independent drama follows an unlikely romance between a rich architect and a poor maid. The movie had an initial premiere at Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and was later released in theaters. It’s a slow movie that doesn’t bore you at any point. You enjoy getting to know the characters and the plot is so well crafted that you feel like you are watching something happen in real life.

Ratna, works as a maid servant for Ashwin, the wealthy son of a builder. Ratna is working hard to send her sister to college as well as nurturing dreams to become a fashion designer. Ashwin, following his broken engagement, is lost and trying to figure things out. He falls in love with Ratna—he feels there’s something that he has never felt before. His friend tries to dissuade him from pursuing the relationship and even Ratna thinks he’s just looking for physical intimacy and pushes him away. What slowly unravels is each discovering themselves as well as finding out what we look for when we seek love.

Angrezi Medium (2020)

Comedy | Drama

Run time: 2h 25m

Directed by Homi Adajania

Starring Irrfan Khan, Radhika Madan, Kareena Kapoor

Starring Irrfan Khan, ‘Angrezi Medium’ is about the lengths a father can go to for his daughter. When his daughter decides to study in London, a hardworking Rajasthani businessman does everything in power to make her dreams come true. It’s a standalone sequel to the 2017 movie, Hindi Medium. This is also Irrfan’s final movie before his death in April 2020.

Though we must admit that it’s not as good as Hindi Medium (or Irrfan’s other movies for that matter) watching the actor light up the screen, despite his medical condition and the fact that he did the movie while undergoing treatment for cancer, makes it a bittersweet moment. We couldn’t take our eyes off him. He’s done justice to his role and carried the story forward in a way no other actor could have. The writing has its weak moments but the plot makes you laugh and cry and moves you in ways only good cinema can.

Damsel (2024) 

Fantasy | Action

Run time: 1h 50m

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Nick Robinson, Angela Bassett​​​​​​​

Millie Bobby Brown is a British actress who gained recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things. She received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. Brown has also starred in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters and its sequel Godzilla vs. Kong. Her spy thriller series, Enola Holmes (Part one and two), was also hugely popular. But that’s not what we are recommending you to watch (though you must if you haven’t already).

Her latest release, Damsel, sees her set into the role of a young woman who agrees to marry a handsome prince, only to discover it was all a trap. The royal family has been cursed and they must sacrifice someone (of royal blood) to a dragon that lives down in a cave. The family first gets the prince married off and then sacrifices the bride, following a ritual to make her royalty. Elodie (Brown) is thrown into a cave with a fire-breathing dragon and must rely solely on her wits and will to survive. It’s a fun movie to watch when you don’t want to think too much about a story and just want to kill some time during the weekend.