Submit your Article

‘Garud Puran’ was touted as a good movie even before its release. (Or at least a few people in my circle, who suggested that I watch the film, thought so.) In the trailer, the plot appeared bland and the dialogues stilted. But I still wanted to give it the benefit of doubt. Never judge a book by its cover, right? But my worst fears were realized when I actually saw it. At no point did I laugh. Nor did the film evoke any feeling other than utter ennui. ‘Garud Puran’ is the story of four central characters. Henriks (Najir Hussain) wants to go abroad to work and has already been cheat­ed four times while trying to do. His friend Rambo (Karma), is a virgin eager to lose his you-know-what. So you can expect an over­dose of sexual innuendos and double-entendres, and which, in fact, were more cringe-worthy than funny.

To the plot, then. Henriks and Rambo are best friends. Karan (Pra­been Khatiwada) is in love with Jyo­ti (Priyanka Thakuri), who is always demanding an Oppo phone and sounds like she would sleep with anyone who meets her materialis­tic needs. The whole film revolves around these four characters.

There are many things not to like about the film. First, its name. Garun Puran is a Hindu scripture believed to help departed souls go to heaven and inspire the living to pursue a meaningful life. But the movie has nothing to do with any of these themes. Second, parts of the film have no logic.

For starters, it opens with Hen­riks’ family walking to the airport with band baaja even as his flight ticket is unconfirmed. Who does that? Then, at the end, all central characters come to a park where there is a bag with Rs 7 million in cash, of which Rs 5 million is fake. Two protagonists take out a few lakhs of real money. (Don’t ask how they knew which bundles were real.) In the end, the police nabs the single villain who is caught with fake notes.

Who should watch it?

If you are a die-hard slapstick comedy fan—good, bad, ugly, you like them all—and can put up with a poor plot, then you may enjoy it. Otherwise, don’t bother.

The pacing is inconsistent as well. The directors, it appears, tried to copy scenes from similar Bollywood movies like ‘Golmaal’ and ‘Dhamaal’. But without a fresh twist, these efforts fail miserably.

The background score is praiseworthy though, fitting the scenes well and making charac­ters come alive. The cinematogra­phy also elicits audience hooting in places.

 The movie’s central failing is that the directors push too hard to evoke emotions in the audience

Karma and Najir Hussain both entered the cinema world after their successful theater careers. Perhaps this is why they are uncon­vincing at the start of the film and their acting gets better as the movie progresses. As her first film, Pri­yanka’s acting can be considered passable. Loonibha Tuladhar, who plays Najir’s overbearing aunt, per­fectly fits the role: comedy, after all, is her forte.

MOVIE: GARUD PURAN

GENRE: Comedy

CAST: Najir Hussain, Karma, Priyanka Singh Thakuri

DIRECTION: Subash Koirala,Sushan Prajapati

Located in the quiet neighborhood of Bansbari (inside the Standard Nursery near British Gur­kha Academy), Around the Corner is a multi-cui­sine restaurant and event venue. With plenty of open spaces and a luscious garden, it is one of the few children-friendly restaurants in Kathmandu. Food at ATC is like any other regular multi-cuisine restaurants with the menu offering the standard appetizers and main courses. What separates it from others is the peaceful ambience it offers and plenty of space to host different types of small events and gatherings. Be it live music or ‘dog socializing week’ or even festive gatherings, ATC hosts it all.

 THE MENU

Chef’s Special:

- Mustang Aalu

- Hot Chicken Wings

- Mozzarella Cheese Stick

Opening hours: 10 am – 9 pm

Location: Bansbari, Ktm

Cards: Accepted

Meal for 2: Rs 2,000

Reservations: 9861631197

“In the Nepali case,” writes David N. Gellner, “it would be anach­ronistic to speak of a diaspora before the modern period and the age of nationalism.” This quote is borrowed from ‘Global Nepalis: Reli­gion, Culture and Community in a New and Old Diaspora’, a new book Gellner, a professor of social anthro­pology at the University of Oxford and an old Nepal hand, co-edits with Sondra L. Hausner, a professor of anthropology at the same university. There has always been small-scale migration to and out of the Himala­yas since time immemorial. Yet there was no Nepali diaspora to speak of because there was no entity called Nepal with a well-defined boundary.Even today, old people from out­side the capital refer to Kathmandu, where the country’s seat of power lies, as Nepal, complicating their sense of belongingness.

This, however, has not stopped scholars from systematically studying the out-migration of people from the areas that now are part of the nation-state called Nepal. As the Rana rulers had cut off the country’s contact with the outside world until the political changes in 1950, what little migration was there was limited to India in the south and Tibet in the north. This helped create small pockets of the Nepali diaspora in these two places.

While interaction with the rest of the world was limited, starting in 1815, members of some hill com­munities began serving in the Brit­ish Army, which took them as far afield as the Indo-China, the UK, and Europe. Still, before the rein­statement of democracy in 1990, only a few Nepalis had travelled beyond India. But slowly less educated Nepalis started migrating to the Gulf countries in search of blue-collar work.

Those with better means went to the US, the UK and Australia to study; many of them never returned. The outbound trickle quickly turned into a flood and today there are people of Nepali origin in 112 of the 138 coun­tries with which Nepal has diplomatic relations, with Nepali diaspora orga­nizations present in such unlike­ly places as Zambia, Lesotho and Mozambique.

‘Global Nepalis’ is the first book of its kind to study the Nepali diaspora in one volume, and what an enrich­ing read it is. Comprising 18 detailed case studies from 21 authors, the book explores the always-unfold­ing phenomena of Nepali diaspo­ra formation, the influence of this process on Nepalis living abroad and the ways they relate to the coun­try of their origin. The case studies are from around the world: the UK, the US, India, Southeast Asia, the Gulf countries, and even Fiji (where Nepalis first landed as indentured laborers starting in 1879).

Identity is a difficult concept. Whether you identify yourself pri­marily as a Nepali or a Madhesi or a Gorkhali is your choice. Or is it? In a brilliant case study from the UK, Mitra Pariyar writes about how the Nepali Dalits continue to be discrim­inated against by the broader Nepali diaspora in England even though many of them would have migrated precisely to escape the ‘casteism’ back home. Willy-nilly, the Dalits carry the ‘untouchable’ tag wherev­er they go. The book is packed with many other rich articles. It is a must read for those who want to under­stand the Nepali diaspora’s evolution over the past two centuries. Even for casual readers, it offers plenty of insights into what it means to be a Nepali in the 21st century.

Contributors to ‘Global Nepalis’: Krishna P. Adhikari, Radha Adhikari, Tristan Bruslé, Sienna R. Craig, Florence Gurung, Nawang Tsering Gurung, Susan Hangen, Sushma Joshi, Chandra K. Laksamba, Kelvin E.Y. Low, Kathryn March, Mitra Pari­yar, Anil Sakya, Bhimsen Sapkota, Jeevan Raj Sharma, Bal Gopal Shres­tha, Bandita Sijapati, Anna Stirr and Mélanie Vandenhelsken.

Book: GLOBAL NEPALIS Religion, Culture, and Community in a New and Old Disapora (Hardcover)

Genre: Non-Fiction

Edited by: David N. Gellner and Sondra L. Hausner

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Price: Rs 2,392

Pages: 580

A hero with killer looks. A decent plot. Good acting. Clever VFX effects. Combine all this with a comparably fresh superhero who has never before featured in a lead role. The result? A blockbuster that has already grossed over $1 billion worldwide. For the same reasons, at no point does the 2h 23m ‘Aquaman’ feels dull. Deservedly, the movie is well on its way to becoming the biggest blockbuster from the DC Comics universe, dethroning two earlier Batman movies. Again, the biggest strength of ‘Aquaman’ is its novelty on the big screen. The super-talented Jason Momoa debuted as Aquaman in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ (2016), followed by anoth­er cameo role in ‘Justice League’ (2017). In both the films, even when appearing alongside other Holly­wood superstars, Momoa was able to dominate the screen with his larger-than-life presence. In ‘Aqua­man’ Momoa proves he can keep the audience hooked for as long as he wants.

The plot is simple enough. Aquaman aka Arthur Curry is the son of Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison), a lighthouse keeper, and Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), the queen of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. Arthur is a curious being: half-human, half Atlantian. As the first son of the Queen of Atlantis, Arthur has a legitimate claim to the throne of Atlantis. But Arthur seems satisfied with his bohemian life on the ‘surface’ and ruling Atlantis is the last thing on his mind.

 Who should watch it?

If you like superhero movies, there are unlikely to be many better than ‘Aquaman’. If the only thing that turns you on about a movie is its rich, subtle plot, then (and only then) will Aquaman not be to your taste.

Yet he is one day forced to descend to the water world. If he does not, his half-brother Orm Mar­ius (Patrick Wilson), who is the king of Atlantis, and who endlessly mocks Arthur as ‘half-breed’, will destroy the surface-world Arthur calls home. In order to kill Arthur and conquer the world, Orm seeks the services of Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a pirate and mer­cenary who at one time lost his father because of Aquaman. The rest of the movie revolves around Aquaman’s quest to defeat his half-brother, regain his kingdom and to save the world.

It’s a masterly performance by Momoa, who has just about the perfect physique, tattoos and per­sona to portray Aquaman. He does not disappoint. The softer shade of Temuera Morrison as Aquaman’s father and Atlanna’s doting hus­band is convincing; Nicole Kidman shines in her cameo appearances; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Panther carries the hatred of Aqua­man as his father’s killer with some aplomb. The rest of the underwater characters are also given enough screen-time to make the audience care about them.

There is action, there is (some) romance and, there is nifty VFX work. Yet even with the best VFX work, the underwater world would not have been easy to show. Direc­tor James Wan (of ‘The Conjuring’ fame) gets full credit for making a good fist of it. All in all, it’s a com­plete family package. This mov­ie has been able to capture the world’s attention for a reason. You don’t want to miss out.

Movie: Aquaman

Genre: ACTION, SCI-FI

CAST: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe

DIRECTION:James Wan