Anmol KC, currently the most popular and also the highest paid actor in Nepali films, is known to be a recluse. He rarely makes pub­lic appearances except during his film’s promotion. But last week, a dapper-looking KC arrived at the Hyatt Regency to attend the 6th NFDC Film Award, handed out every year by the National Film Develop­ment Company. KC had been nominated in the ‘Best Actor’ category for ‘Kri’. Later that evening, he was announced as the winner. This would surprise any regular Nepali moviegoer because KC isn’t someone known for his acting prowess. Since his debut in ‘Hostel’, he has been doing similar masala films that make do with his one-note acting. What con­vinced the jury otherwise will remain a mystery.

 

But hang on! KC’s victory wasn’t the only big surprise. Milan Chams, who directed the awful romantic comedy ‘Lily Bily’, won best direc­tor and the smash-commer­cial hit ‘Satru Gate’ took home the best film award, while a separate category was created to declare ‘Chakka Panja 2’ the “Best Commer­cial Film”. This isn’t the first time a Nepali award show has glossed over content and craft to recognize only a film’s com­mercial success.

 

This celebrity-pleasing men­tality that rules over recogni­tion of real talent has plagued the Nepali award circuit for years. Entertainment reporter Manish Anjaan, writing for online film portal ‘filmy­khabar.com’, notes that the NFDC went so far to please the public last year that the win­ners list was disclosed before the start of the actual event! No wonder Anmol KC found time to be come out of his shell for the event; he knew he was going to win.

 

Although the Nepali year of 2074 saw a handful of movies do well commercially, it was rather forgettable in terms of content-driven cinema. A few films that stood out were Bipin Karki- starrer action-adven­ture ‘Naka’ and Ganesh Dev Panday’s stoner comedy ‘Gaja Baja’. Both films had their share of flaws but they were refreshingly experimental and managed to give us fresh plots and characters.

 

By contrast, the films that did well in the Box Office— the likes of ‘Kri’, ‘Aishwarya’, ‘Satru Gate’, ‘Chakka Panja 2’, ‘Ma Yesto Geet Gaunchu’, ‘A Mero Hajur 2’ and ‘Prem Geet 2’—were those that strictly fol­lowed the Bollywood formula, in particular the style and editing aesthetics of over-the-top South Indian action flicks, and recycled clichés from the romantic films of Karan Johar and Imtiaz Ali.

 

With our films happy being seen as cheap knockoffs of Bollywood movies, that our film awards also mimic their Indian counterparts is perhaps no surprise. For instance, many Nepali award shows, undoubtedly inspired by their Indian counterparts, put up unnecessary categories like “Best Newcomer”, “Best Comedy Artist”, and “Best Actor in a Negative Role”. These awards exist not to cele­brate the range of acting but as “token of love” to be handed out to everyone who showed up. A couple of years ago, one random Nepali award show was thoughtful enough to put a “Best Child Artist” category but couldn’t fit real categories like film editing, sound design and production design.

 

Nepali film awards masquer­ade as events that celebrate the best in cinema. In reality most are musical events that undermine the award aspect of the show and highlight only the actors’ dance moves.

 

One such event is the yearly NEFTA Awards, organized by the Nepal Film Techni­cian Association (NEFTA), which takes place in a foreign country with a sizable Nepali popu­lation. But the award show is just a front to lure Nepali actors and celebrities in the name of honor­ing them. In reality, these are gimmicks to sell more event tickets. Others have followed the NEFTA way and, as a result, a num­bers of “Inter­n a t i o n a l Nepali Film Awards” h a v e cropped up. Some are one-offs and die after one edition, while oth­ers continue to prey on sponsors and to get attention by inviting popular actors and show­ering them with prizes, regardless of the quality of their work.

 

Questioning the cred­ibility of these types of award shows, filmmak­ers Deepak Rauniyar, Min Bham, Khagendra Lammichhane and Dipendra K Khanal have in different times issued statements to pull their films out from con­tention. But most filmmakers are still happy to collect tro­phies and support the idiocy.

 

But things need to change. Our culture of awarding films needs a complete overhaul. The focus must shift from people-pleasing and mon­ey-making to rewarding the truly deserving films and per­formances. In that case, if the organizers make some money on the side, even better.

 

If film awards want to be taken seriously, they need a more credible foun­dation. This will take time. Mean­while, “Are our films award-wor­thy?” might be a better topic worth exploring o