Posted by satya raj chaulagai
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For a change, a Nepali film’s premiere at the QFX Cinema Hall had a different line of audiences.
A majority of people who turned up for the premiere of the much talked flick Batch No 16 were not those who are often spotted at turnstiles.
Directed by Pitamber Pandey and produced by Bikrant Shrestha and Surendra Poudel, the flick had drawn an unbelievably huge turn out.
Any little digression from the stereotype is worth appreciating. But filmmakers should not take this liberty to take things for granted.
It’s high time for Nepali filmmakers to realize that cinematography alone can’t make up for the missing elements.Batch No. 16 has good cinematography. But the plot is a mess.
The movie starts with two Armed Police Force (APF) personnel – Ram Karki (Suman Singh) and Guru (Arpan Thapa) rescuing a kidnapped businessman.
Soon, their commander-in-chief gives them a new mission — to eradicate crime by bringing the most WANTED criminals in the country to justice.
The first gangster they look out for is actor Anup Baral, who apparently is a Mexican don in Nepal.
But the gangster speaks nothing that sounds Mexican and is rather fluent in Nepali! Everything goes hunky-dory until the lure of the lucre takes a toll on the friendship of two cops.
While the dedicated officer Ram decides to handcuff the baddie and hand him over to the authorities, his friend Guru proposes to kill him and share ransom money. Guru shoots the gangster to death.
This battle of morals leads to two friends to become big time enemies.
Suddenly, the film that says is based on the lifestyle of APFs loses grip on its plot.
By the time the movie comes to end, I was left with too many unanswered questions. Where did all other dons that were to be nabbed disappear? Suman Singh as APF says police officers should not accept bribe and should live for morals.
But he owns a luxurious apartment. Why do they have to keep on speaking in English when they would be far comfortable speaking Nepali.
Most of the dialogues delivered by Suman Singh are dubbed in the voice of media person and actor Dinesh DC.
Why did Singh refrain from pitching his dialogues? What point was the director trying to make by making the audiences read the signboard that says “Badhrakali Mandir Parisar” and beginning a fight sequence at a location that has nothing to do with the plot.
Even the dialogues aren’t taken care of. Newcomer actress Sushma Karki who plays a negative role in the movie and is a journalist says “It’s impossible for a journalist to afford a maid”. She surprisingly owns a car. And for performance, Karki compensates for everything by flaunting her bare skin.
And Yes, the kissing scene between actors Arpan Thapa and Sushma Karki was so not needed.
The soundtracks of the movie composed by Sugam Pokharel, Bikrant Shrestha and Kichhaman Chitrakar need special mention. Almost all the songs are pleasing to listen to.
Arpan Thapa steals the show with his strong performance. He is good with expressions, dialogue delivery, and poise and has the right attitude for his negative role.
Even actor Suman Singh and Ruby Bhattarai sashay the role with élan.
Sadly, actor Anup Baral, who also is the casting director of the film, disappoints.
All in all, director Pitamber Pandey, who is known best as an assistant director of one of the most acclaimed Bollywood movie Life In a Metro, should have at least took some inspirations from the movie, when it comes to executing the film in a right manner.
A friend in need is friend indeed. Saathi, starring Rajesh Hamal and Karishma in lead roles justifies the above saying. With some of the melodious songs and out and out comedy scenes, Saathi is one fine joy ride Nepali commercial cinema. The movie also stars Nir Shah, Gauri Malla, Basundhara Bhushal, Mithila Sharma, Narayan Tripathi, Mohan Mishra in supporting roles. Apart from ensemble of cast, a Dog plays a pivotal role in the movie, who finally becomes the Saathi.
