I haven't written a movie review ever. However, after watching the movie Raghav, I had this urge to review the movie. The reason being that, I want as many people as possible to watch and enjoy the uniqueness that it has to offer. The movie night was organized/screened by Nepali Students Association (NSA) at Minnesota State University Moorhead, USA. It is always a great day to try something new, so here I am with my review on the movie. Please deal with the fact of it being as amateur as it can be. (:
Raghav has been the most awaited movie in different parts of the United States as the promotions kicked off almost a year ago. What stands out most about the movie is its story. Director and storyteller Bhupendra Bhattarai, has skillfully captured the lives of all the Nepalese people chasing their dreams, staying abroad. It's hard to tell that the movie is his directorial debut. Being an undergrad, majoring in Film Studies, kudos to the effort he has put in his very first movie. Also while carrying out the promotions, he rightfully chose the target audience to be people living abroad and especially the young college kids in United States.
So, as I was saying, Raghav revolves around the story of a young boy, Raghav, living in the United States and all the ups and downs he goes through in life. The story depicts the different stressful situation he comes across which juggles between his family, long distance relationship, work and studies, time management, and the list continues. What he goes through in life is pretty much what each one of us go through - people who are studying and living abroad. The story is down to earth and there isn't any part that you would feel has been exaggerated. It shuns the mainstream "masaledaar" item numbers and action scenes and the simplicity and reality is what it makes it different from the usual.
The actors in the movie are newbies, completely fresh to the glamor world. Having said that though, they have all done justice to their roles. Actor Shibir Pokharel's (Raghav in the movie) cuteness will definitely get you stuck on your seat throughout the movie, just saying! I could personally relate to Asmita Dhakal (Aastha in the movie) who depicts a modern day woman who doesn't really care about what other people think about her. She also happens to be my personal favorite character from the movie. Rocken Byanjankar (Swapnil in the movie), Ashishma Nakarmi (Nisha in the movie) and Kait Brasel (Kylie in the movie) have also put in outstanding performance in the movie. The movie would have been different without these characters as the movie goes in depth about all these character's stories that revolves around Raghav's character.
All in all, in my opinion, Raghav is a must-watch movie. The story has boldly touched the common yet unspoken topics like green cards, working off-campus, etc and stripped down the real life story that people go through living abroad. It is highly encouraged for people living back home to watch the movie and understand what their loved ones have to go through, living in a strange place away from home. The life style definitely looks glamorous in Facebook and social networking websites, but once you watch the movie, you will also get to see the real-world situation.
I rate the movie 4 and half out of 5 for the awesome effort that everyone has put in the movie and for the story that speaks the truth of million of Nepalese people all around the globe. The sound tracks in the movie are also very soothing and catchy. The half point that I took off was for the first half of the movie which happens to be a little sluggish. You just wish the movie would start getting to it's point while watching the first half. The second half however takes its peak throughout the movie and holds a very strong connection with the first half.
The movie is being screened in US, UK, Australia, and different corners of the world and is expected to be screened in Nepal in about a month.
The story might seem something familiar and common, but the presentation is what it makes it different. As the story progresses, you will have an impression of living and getting into Raghav's life more than just watching the movie. So, make sure you buy yourself a ticket peeps. Its definitely worth the time and money you will be spending on! (:
http://snout2013.blogspot.com/2014/04/raghav-taking-contemporary- nepali.html
