Developing Trend of Pornography in Nepali Movies

Developing The trend of Pornography in Nepali Movies

                                                                                                Bhanu Bhakta Khatiwada,

                                                                                                  MA in English

Kathmandu Model College

Abstract

When the movie Loot was released in 2012, it brought a different style in film production. The film uses vulgar slang and songs along with body exposure. Then the trend of using such materials, dialogues, and costumes changed drastically from the traditional cult. Then many movies were made with obscene actions such as Chapali Height by Dipendra K. Khanal and ATM by Dinesh Thapa. In this paper, I am trying to analyze how Nepali movies are making a shift from insistence on performance skill to the inclusion of cheap romance and vulgar scenes. In other words, the paper answers the question of how Nepali movies in the present context emphasize adopting porn materials, not artistic skills. The objective behind writing this paper is to show the reality of using porn materials and vulgar dialogues in Nepali movies and shows the importance of artistic quality so that concerned people consider this issue seriously and attempt to avoid vulgarity in the name of entertainment. I have taken the reference of Jhola to show how movies can be made without obscene materials and the directors in the coming movies should focus on it.

 Pornography is an obscene act of expressing ideas through different forms of presentation as writings, photography, and audio-visual media presentation. As it arouses sexual stimulation in readers or audience, it is not generally regarded as an artistic presentation. However, the trend of using pornography is developing in media sectors and in cinema culture. Nepali movies in the recent era are also emphasizing on sexual discourses, gestures, and vulgar scenes. The trend of pornography in Nepali movies has been developed so rapidly that it is being established as a trademark in the cinema business.

            Movies are primarily seen for aesthetic pleasure, but at the same time, they provide some important lessons that will be useful in daily life. It is a cinematic art and the mastery that lies in the delivery skill. Andrew M. Butler has describes the art cinema as “films, predominantly made outside of Hollywood, that attempt to act as personal expressions rather than simply aiming to make money, and which may be considered avant-garde’’ (138). But in the present context, especially in Nepali movies, cinematic art has been defined as performing by exposing the body and using vulgar dialogues with the intention of offering sensual pleasure. Because of this trend, Nepali movie in the recent context is losing its trademark and promoting ‘‘the height of sex and vulgarity in Nepali movie industry’’ (Nepal Khabar). 

            The history of pornography goes back to the modern Greek ‘pornographia’, which came from the word ‘porne’ that means prostitute and ‘Porneia’ prostitution, although the history is not clear. It was in practice in France during the 1800s as ‘Pornographie’. The invention of motion pictures in 1895 flourished film production and also the pornographic materials were gradually used in practice (The History of Modern Pornography 5). Due to the radical development of mass media and technology, pornographic materials or scenes in movies are easily available and are used by the mass population. Jonathan Coppersmith in his Pornography, Technology, and Progress mentions the increasing social acceptance of the sexually oriented materials that have drastically changed the environment and nature of pornography (97). Some of the Nepali movies like Chapali Height (2012) Loot (2012) and ATM (2013) have tried to grasp the same trend of pornography in the name of art. Such vulgarity has created difficulty for the Nepali audiences to watch the movie by sitting together with the family. Though pornographic materials in the movies are easily accepted in the western world, it is still taken as an obscene act in developing countries as Nepal.

           

            As the cinema culture entered into Nepal by the early 1990s, Nepali movies, in the beginning, were based on the story of working-class people, family love, the struggle of the people in the village, people coming to the city and sufferings as well as the domination of the upper class (elite) to the lower class (working) people. Now, such issues are not the content of movies, rather they are following how the Bollywood and Hollywood movies are being successful. The changing trend of the movies from the past to the present can be discussed by classifying the entities of films:  plot, acting, setting, costumes, and dialogue as well as the use of technologies. 

            The plot of Nepali movies in the past used to be linear. A single story of the major characters became the issue and the movies ended with the resolve of the problematic life of the characters, especially the heroes. The viewers could easily guess what is going to happen and the time of the hero’s fight with the villains.  In the movies directed by Dayaram Dahal as Thuldai, Karma, and Arjun, the plots move chronologically. The plots are not mystery and suspense in these movies (Filmykhabar). Now the plots are a jumble and mystified. To understand the plot of such movies, the audience should watch the movies till the end. Mostly, with the influence of English and Hindi movies, the plot revolves around crime, sex, betrayal, and tragedy. The 2012 released film  Chapali Height was just based on sex psychology and was taken as one of the most sensual movies in the Nepali film industry, which got an Adult Certificate. Manisha Neupane reviewed the film as the movie ‘‘No Height, No Depth’’.

          What’s Chapali Height feels like, from a viewer’s perspective, is a film laden with vulgar bits, inessential nudity, and offensive language that doesn’t really flow with the plot but has been tagged on to qualify for an ‘adult’ certification.   Plagued with stilted, artificial-sounding dialogues and wooden performances, this is one watch you probably wouldn’t mind missing. (The Kathmandu Post 6)

The acting part of the movie is very much important. The film gets tagged as a good film or gets a recommendation that should be watched mostly by its powerful acting. The powerful acting brings moves to the audience. Taking some of the successful and artistic movies in the background like Jhola, many recent movies are not guided by the power of acting. A movie by Dinesh Thapa, ATM, is charged with selling the sex, not the art. A critic in Nepalkhabar, Online News Portal Of Nepal has written that the movie is made to get good hype in the media and earn some money by selling sex in a cheap way. Because of vulgar dialogues, you might want to make sure you have a headphone ready if somebody else is around before you watch the promo video (7).

Another critic of Films of Nepal wrote the Nepali movie ATM that is considered to be one of the most controversial movies of all time. It was rejected by the censor board and was later banned when a few of the censored scenes weren’t removed from the movie. The filmmakers fought against the government's decision in court. The court ultimately let its release to the public and was released on July 26, 2013 (11). 

            Because of the director and producer’s intention of earning money just by developing erotic actions, ATM became a flopped movie, which shows the poor understanding of audiences’ psychology and interests. It is also due to developing interests of audiences towards the performance skills.  

            A little bit of contrast of the porn materials or dialogues used in the film, Loot is accepted by the audiences. It became super hit not because of such erotic dialogues, but by the live performance/action of the actors and actresses. When Loot was released, it became so popular after a long time, which also broke many commercial records. “Authenticity of dialogue, realistic delivery and a craftily plotted storyline and the script have attracted audiences… Loot managed to pull audiences; especially the urban, educated and young crowd to the theatres to watch a Nepali film. Furthermore, as icing to the cake, ‘Loot’ created ripples and was well received in countries across the globe” (Samridi Rai, The Himalayan Times 20 July 2014)

The setting is placed in Nepali movies of the crowded city life, comparatively less than the rustic life, where people are rushing here and there for their survival. The narrow galley of the city life mostly signifies some porn oriented activities or the crime planning spots. 

            In the aspect of the costume, the recent trend is developing to the one-piece dress and in the two-piece, the directors and even the heroines prefer to wear short skirts. The traditional long costumes are being replaced by mini skirts and flexible T-shirts. Sari Choli and Daura Suruwals are rarely seen in the movies. The most famous heroine till now, Rekha Thapa is popular for her short dress and she is brilliant in creating media scandals which helps her to have prevailed in media gossip. Only talking about the actress, not to the actor is not to be biased, but whenever the matter of commodity appears, females come in the front line. The costumes in the name of the demand of the story should not be oriented towards vulgarity but should maintain the relationship between the theme of the movie and the acting. The concept of making movies hit through the use of unusual and vulgar costumes is a false notion. “Visual culture is what images, acts of seeing, and attendant intellectual, emotional, and perceptual sensibilities do to build, maintain, or transform the worlds in which people live” (Morgan 33).

            The vulgar dialogues are prevailing in the films in the recent context. We can find the Indian (ghan.a, mather…) and English (fuck, shit) influence, where the characters use words as, Mu..i, bhu..o and so on. The roles of the heroes and heroines redefine the concept of glamour, mistakenly taken as sexual exposure and erotic presentation. Where does vulgarity lead the future of Nepalese films is a major concern.

            However, in the very recent context,  Nepali societies and film viewing culture are transforming, which is a good sign in the cinema sector. The audiences have started to enjoy more artistic films than movies with porn materials. With the radical development of theatre in Kathmandu and other cities, even directors like Dayaram Dahal, Chhabi Ojha are interested to make movies with some suspense thrillers and realistic scenarios. Anup Baral, who has a theatre background is excited to make such types of movies as Kabaddi. Bringing the theme of marriage, he has been able to avoid the pornographic contents and delivery.  

The point of making a film is to get it seen by an audience. A film (be it made on film or video), like any art, is a form of communication. That does not mean that your film needs to appeal to the broadest number of people. Your intended audience could be very limited and specific. However, before embarking on your film, you must consider who your audience is, as it will have profound ramifications on how you choose to address them via the style and content of your film. (Dylan Pank and Karen Savage: Practical film-making 215) Ruth Doughty and Deborah Shaw (Film The Essential Study Guide)

            The movie Jhola directed by Yadav Kumar Bhattarai is another example of the positive sign of artistic film making culture. “The movie made on the banner of Media for Culture Pvt. Ltd. was made after extensive research on the topic for about 7 years. Based on the novel Jhola by Krishna Dharabasi, late Deepak Alok had written the script of the movie – keeping the core of the book intact. The movie can be categorized as a historical art movie” (Manandhar). It signifies that the artistic movies are taking place of movies with porn materials (hot masala). 

            Although the recent trend of Nepali movies is moving towards the use of pornography, at the same time interests of audiences towards the artistic aesthetics in motion not only the exposure of the body and sexy gesture, and at the same time such art emphasized movies are being produced. The actors/actresses who have come from the theatre background are performing better. It is also necessary to guide the films into the positive turn and according to the real demand of the story. It does not mean that every film should be far from pornographic scenes, matters, dialogues, acting, and exposition, but they should be in a proper manner.

 

Works Cited

Bindel, Julie. “The Truth About the Porn Industry”. The Guardian.  2 July 2010, 6.

Butler, Andrew M. Film Studies. Harpenden.  Pocket Essentials, 2005.

Coppersmith, Jonathan. Pornography, Technology and Progress. 97-118

Doughty, Ruth and Deborah Shaw, eds. Film The Essential Study Guide, London and NewYork:

 Routledge, 2008.

Manandhar, Robin. www.XNepali movies.net.

Morgan, David. The Sacred Gaze, Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice. California. 

 University of California Press, 2005.

Nepal Khabar Online News Portal Of Nepal, ATM,  “height of sex and vulgarity in Nepali movie industry”?

Neupane, Manisha. Chapali Height: No Height, No Depth. The Kathmandu Post. 20 march

2013, 4.

Potral admin. www.Fimlykhabar.com.

Rea, Michael C. What is pornography? University of Delaware: Delaware, 2001.

Samridi Rai, Samridi. The Himalayan Times.  “Has Nepal's film industry come of age”?

Perspective.  20 June 2014, 2.