Comedy

KOHALPUR EXPRESS

CAST: Keki Adhikari, Priyanka Karki, Reecha Sharma, Buddhi Tamang, Rabindra Jha

DIRECTION: Bishal Bhandari

1 and a half stars

 

 

 

 

Rarely does Nepali mainstream cinema feature women-driven stories. Female characters are typically given the role of eye-candy love interests who operate as third elements wheels in the background, never at the center, while the male leads bask in atten­tion. The industry is dominated by men and only a handful of female filmmakers working today in Nepal really have the power and resources to call the shots. So I was sold the moment I found that Keki Adhikari was donning the producer’s hat and had roped in Priyanka Karki and Reecha Sharma for a women-driven ensemble comedy. This could be a game changer, I thought. Alas, the end result, ‘Kohalpur Express’, bitterly disappoints, scoring low on both humor and entertainment.

 

Keki Adhikari stars as the titular character Kohalpur Express, the hearing impaired yet the go-to deliv­ery girl in her hometown of Kohal­pur. Whatever she makes by deliv­ering groceries and goods on her electric two-wheeler, she donates to the orphanage she grew up in. One day, she’s called upon by her childhood friend Champa (Pri­yanka Karki). The heavily pregnant Champa has cooked a plan to kidnap a child of a rich Marwadi business­man (Rabindra Jha) with the help of her meek husband (Buddhi Tamang) and two other less-than-capable accomplices (Binod Neupane and Sujan Karki).

 

But just three days before the kid­napping, her husband falls sick and has to be hospitalized. Since he was the only person in the team who knew how to ride a bike, they need a quick replacement, and who better than Kohalpur Express!

 

‘Kohalpur Express’ is yet another film where a ragtag team of odd­balls are trying to pull off a kidnap­ping, which, of course, goes awfully wrong. The characters are so poorly thought of, they have no human quality to root for.

 

Adhikari has the most unassum­ing role. She is too spaced out and restrained to be able to carry the entire film on her shoulders. Pri­yanka Karki, by contrast, gets to be bossy and loudmouth but convinces only in bits and pieces. The rest of the supporting cast don’t stand out either. Even the dependable Buddhi Tamang and Rabindra Jha fail to land any memorable one-liners. But it’s Reecha Sharma’s over-the-top performance which is the last nail in the coffin for a movie that was dead on arrival.

 

Sharma, an otherwise accom­plished actor, plays a dimwitted bar girl embroiled into a kidnap­ping plot in the movie’s later half. Her exaggerated body gestures, labored breathing and pouty expres­sions made me squirm impatiently in my seat.

 

Director Bishal Bhandari and writer Shan Basnyat move the story at a snail’s pace and digress way too much in their lukewarm effort at comedy. In an early scene, Buddhi Tamang is sitting in a bhatti (tavern) narrating the plan to his accomplices. To gather their attention, he says, La sun! (‘Listen up!’). In reaction, the tavern owner brings them a plate of garlic, thinking they ordered lasun (‘garlic’). (You want us to laugh at that?) Likewise, there’s a run­ning joke about a character getting bitten by a cow. This gag gets referenced about ten times. The film’s comedy chops are so low I’m afraid they would fail to tickle even five-year-olds.

 

Even with its talented actors, the journey ‘Kohalpur Express’ takes us on is drab and senseless. This ride is rarely scenic!