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In ‘Essays on Nepal: Past and Pres­ent,’ Sam Cowan brings to the analysis of contemporary Nepali history and society a rare incisive­ness and depth. Most of 19 essays in this volume have already been published in various outlets, and an avid follower of Nepali history and politics would have relished them. Even so, in bringing them together in one volume, Cowan helps us form a useful mosaic of the evolution of modern Nepal and Nepali nation­alism, and better understand the country’s recent journey from war to peace.

Travelling to Nepal regularly after his 1994 appointment as Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gur­khas, the titular head of Gurkhas in the British Army, and being in reg­ular touch with the reigning Nepali monarchs of the time, Cowan had over the years gathered an acute understanding of the functioning of the modern Nepali state, most notably the post-1990 leg of its long and painful transition from absolute monarchy to full democracy.

This gives Cowan remarkable fore­sight. As a battle-hardened ex-sol­dier, Cowan was able to predict how the government-Maoist conflict would have no clear winner and was headed for a stalemate—this, in 2005-06, when many were forecast­ing a decisive victory for the state fol­lowing the full engagement of Royal Nepalese Army in the war.

While the Maoists were ill-equipped for an all-out war, Cowan argues, the RNA was fast losing ‘hearts and minds’

While the Maoists were ill-equipped for an all-out war, Cow­an argues, the RNA was fast losing ‘hearts and minds’ with its brutal anti-insurgency tactics. Another path-breaking essay in the volume explores Maoist military tactics during the insurgency: for instance, how they prepared for, and learned from, each raid.

Another set of fascinating chap­ters juxtaposes Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher’s 1906 visit to Great Britain with King Mahen­dra’s 1960 visit. Chandra Shumsh­er was successful in finagling an honorary doctorate from the Uni­versity of Oxford from his obliging British hosts. But King Mahendra was unable to do so, much to his visible chagrin.

Cowen digs into rare Bodle­ian Library records and National Archives in Kew, London, to give new backgrounds to these two vis­its, including the doctorate debate. The subtle differences in the treat­ment of the two Nepali rulers in the UK was, for one, reflective of chang­ing British interests in the pre- and post-colonial worlds.

Other chapters deal with the upshots of old geopolitical rivalries in this ‘cockpit’ of Asia—encompass­ing topics like Kalapani, Khampas, border firing, infiltration, etc.

Whether Cowan is writing about the Anglo-Nepal war, the civil-mil­itary relations, the systemic cor­ruption in government agencies in Nepal, or about one of his countless treks through his beloved country, he brings great insights as an astute outside observer. Again, there is mili­tary precision in the writing, the writ­er’s ability to separate noise from the essential evident in each essay. Now living a retired life, Nepali watch­ers will be waiting for more from Cowan-the-writer.

Essays on Nepal: Past and Pres­ent

Sam Cowan

Genre: Non-fiction

Publisher: Himal Books

Price: Rs 990, Pages: 362

“Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota” (‘Men don’t feel pain’) is a literal rendition of this common cliché about men. Born with a rare ‘congenial insen­sitivity’, a man literally feels no pain. The movie is about how he turns this diagnosis into his strength as he learns martial arts and hunts down muggers. It’s an intriguing concept, and yet you may be disappointed if you go with high expectations. The film starts with Surya (Abhi­manyu Dassani) in his full maroon tracksuit ready to fight a bunch of goons. As they approach him, he has flashbacks of his entire life: how he learned to handle his ‘gift’ of feeling no pain, how he was bullied for it throughout his school life, how he then found his love Supri (Radhika Madan) who was always ready to fight bullies for him, how he grew up with a strict father and an eccentric grandfather, and how, amid all this, he learnt martial arts by watching scratchy VHS tapes.

It is while watching films in his childhood that he comes across ‘Master Mani’, his Karate Guru, and later across Jimmy, Mani’s evil twin and his nemesis. The whole movie is a comic-book style action-comedy filled with flashbacks.

Even though the plot could have been better, most characters do justice to the storyline. Dassani, who debuts in Bollywood with this film, portrays Surya well. His comic timing is good and his char­acter is a brilliant portrayal of how it is like growing up with two very different guardians.

 Who should watch it?

If you like action films, this one is packed with interesting, well-directed fight sequences. But keep your hopes low.

Radhika looks comfortable in her role as Supri, especially in action sequences, with her hair flying and legs kicking. Some of the best parts of the movie are when Supri and Surya are small, the actors emoting their child-like innocence near perfectly.

Radhika however falters in emo­tional scenes, when she has to show the struggle of growing up with an abusive and alcoholic father. Her stilted dialogues are painful to watch as well.

 Writer Vasan Bala could have done so much more, with the movie dealing with such powerful themes as domestic violence, alco­holism, bullying, and toxic masculinity

Writer Vasan Bala could have done so much more, with the movie dealing with such powerful themes as domestic violence, alco­holism, bullying, and toxic mascu­linity. As it is, the movie is flat and fails to touch any of the audience’s emotional buttons.

Yes, Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota is unpredictable and the director han­dles the material he is given rather well. But, again, the plot is still too slow. When the film is over, you real­ize it did not have much to say and was exhaustingly repetitive. Some action and comedy sequences stand out but it is not a movie that will stay with you.

Movie: Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota

Genre: Action/Adventure

Cast: Abhimanyu Dassani, Radhika Madan, Gulshan Devaiya

Direction: Vasan Bala

Rating: 2.5/5

‘The Man from Kathmandu’, an action thriller written and directed by Pema Dhondup, follows the story of Faizal Mus­tafa (Jose Manuel), a disaffected half-American-half-Nepali half-Hin­du-half-Muslim man. He is in Kath­mandu in his quest to find out if his jihadi fighter father has joined the war in Syria. The movie opens with a Dhaka Topi-clad Mustafa in an interview room at the American Embassy in Kathmandu. A Darth Vader-ish robotic voice comes from the other side of the glass (signaling the inter­viewer) which immediately puts you off. This sets the stage for a series of disappointments to follow through­out the movie.

The movie then takes you to a beach in Los Angeles where a couple of bystanders park their vehicle behind our hero’s. When Mustafa asks them to move their car, they make racist gestures and we are presented with our first action sequence.

By Nepali standards, the action sequences are good enough and Jose Manuel can be seen making the best of his martial arts skills, knocking down goons armed with hammers and screwdrivers with his bare hands and feet.

But who is Mustafa? There is a flag of the Islamic State over his bed. He can also be seen communicating with people who supposedly know the location of his dad. While in LA, Mustafa is arrogant, and takes every comment as racist and frequent­ly lashes out at strangers. After a series of communication, Mustafa finds himself back in the country of his origin. We are then presented with our two antagonists: Panditji (Hameed Sheikh), a high-ranked Hindu priest, and Abu Miya (Gul­shan Grover), a rising politician. From this point onwards, everything goes in a downward spiral.

While walking around town, Mustafa finds Namrata (Anna Sharma) getting harassed by a local goon connected to Abu Miya. He fights off the goon, and soon finds himself in a maze of crimi­nal, social and political conspir­acy in his grandfather’s life, and himself tangled in everything from local politics to US foreign policy. The story sounds or at least gives off a great vibe, right? I thought so too.

The film looks to mesh an already complicated genre of action with an even more com­plicating mix: that of politics, romance and religion. While it does some justice to its action genre, it fails in every other aspect. The politics is all over the place, with unexplained plots and inconsequential actions resulting in monumental consequences. The Hindu religion, meanwhile, is presented as a mantra-spitting, soul-possessing endeavor.

The movie tries to unrealistical­ly link the Islamic State recruit­ment camps with Panditji. The transition is weak and so is the flow. In one scene, Namrata is oblivious about Faizal’s work and in the next scene she starts to blame him for everything. The dia­logues are sub-par and the script does not align with what is being shown. Mustafa is seen wearing a normal hoodie with a small beard when a character says he has changed a lot, perhaps hinting of him turning into a Muslim, when, in fact, Mustafa’s get-up could be compared to any beard-sporting teenager in the world.

The cinematography also needs a lot of work. Many scenes are out of focus. Other than that, the film is technically sound—color grading is dynamic and the video quality also trumps that of other Nepali films.

With a plot this complicated, the filmmakers should have done more research. It appears the movie plot was copied from the first line of Wikipedia, with no understanding of the subjects that complicated.

The Man from Kathmandu is branded as Nepal’s first interna­tional movie. With star cast from all over the world, it could have been so much better. As it is, the movie looks like a product of a bunch of good-looking cultural exchange stu­dents with expensive camera gears doing a school project.

The best thing about the movie is that it ends. It is a 1 hour 47 minute movie that is 1 hour too long 47 min­utes too boring. It is so bad it gives a good name to every other movie out there.

 Who should watch it?

No one

 By Nepali standards, the action sequences are good enough and Jose Manuel can be seen making the best of his martial arts skills

Movie: The man from Kathmandu

Genre: Action/Drama

Cast: Gulshan Grover, Hameed Sheikh, Jose Manuel, Karma Shakya

Direction: Pema Dhondup

Rating: 1/5

‘The Runaways’, Fatima Bhutto’s second novel, tackles a tricky topic: how poverty and alienation can lead to extremism. Anita Rose, Sunny, and Monty, who make up the three runaways, come from very different backgrounds but have one thing is common: They are all unhappy with their lives and are looking for something better. It is this search and a promise of change that lead them to adopt radicalism and they end up at a jihadi training camp in Mosul, Iraq. 

But we meet the three title characters much before that happens. Anita  Rose lives in Karachi with her mother and brother in a small cement room. Monty, the son of one of Karachi’s  wealthiest man, is in love with Lay- la and is ready to do anything for  her, and Sunny, a motherless Paki- stani-origin Briton from Portsmouth,  is desperate to realize his father’s dream, i.e. a life filled with security and luxury. Bhutto writes them each their own stories as they make their way from different cities to Mosul.

  Bhutto seems to have given a lot of thought to her characters and their stories, besides minutely chronicling their eventual foray into radicalism. Through Monty, you get the idea that a life of comfort and privilege isn’t as interesting and glamorous as it’s made out to be. Anita Rose’s mother trying to force her to leave school  and work as a domestic helper makes you sympathize with her and almost understand the choices she makes later on. And Sunny, who seems to be confused about many things in life, makes you realize that it’s easy to go astray when you can’t make sense of the things around you.

 Though the narrative is slow and  wobbly, the novel takes off when the stories start to converge. We urge you to have patience till then because, as the niece of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, it’s her understanding of politics that makes The Runaways feel very real. Also, having grown up in exile in Syria after her father’s assassination, and studying in the UK and the US, she brilliantly navigates the world of Islamist extremism. 

 However, The Runaways isn’t just a book about terrorism and radicalization. It’s also a story of how young people end up searching for a cause in life or redemption of sorts through religious violence when they feel out of place in their society and country. The overall effect of the book is in parts both  under- and over-whelming but Bhutto’s ability to write sensitively and  convincingly is what makes The Runaways a riveting read.

Book: The Runaways

Author: Fatima Bhutto

Genre:: Fiction 

Publisher: Penguin Viking

Published: October 24, 2018

Pages: 402, Hardcover