Tulasi Ghimire at his very best, as a director. He has clearly exhibited his influence from great Bollywood directors like Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Manoj Kumar. And I don't mean that in a bad way, well, most of the times. This one is quite reminiscent of a typical Manmohan Desai lost-and-found film. And to be honest, I have found it to be better than any Desai movie. It has that indescribable vibe of a "being a Nepali" feeling that we can only feel, which made me like it more than any Desai movie. The script has some issues, and the story, by the time this film was released, wasn't anything new. What makes it so good is mainly the direction and performances of Shiva Shrestha, Gopal Bhutani, Sunil Thapa, Subhadra Adhikari, Sharmila Malla and Ghimire himself. The intention of a generic revenge on script, should have come out in the corniest way possible. I can name a whole lot of Bollywood films with that element coming out corny. But it's the performances, and, the method of storytelling and intense direction by Tulasi Ghimire which made it look really fresh and convincing. The father-son dynamic between Tulasi Ghimire and Shiva Shrestha is yet another great thing. Never, for a single moment, it felt forced. Every single emotional beat they went for felt totally earned and the comedic parts were genuinely funny. The characterizations are surprisingly done really good. You cannot exchange any one character for the other and get the same tone for the story (if you are to exclude the heroines). Almost all the characters are memorable and quotable, Birkhe and Raate in particular. Raate is perhaps the most iconic classic Nepali film villain you can name. For a Nepali film of that era, the fight scenes are pretty awesome - well choreographed but more importantly, has the intensity, the tension, the storytelling and character motivations (or, in some cases, providing characterizations). And, songs. The songs from this movie (especially 'Mohani Lagla Hai') are STILL insanely popular and have been remixed time and again, but failed to create the charm and effect of the original. The playback singers were the great Kumar Kancha, queen of Indian pop music Asha Bhosle and the one and only SWAR SAMRAT Narayangopal Guruvacharya. All of these made the movie so great and so memorable.
This is a commercially made Nepali film from the classical era, so, it's obvious that it is not perfect. Take away Kristi Mainali, the movie is still almost complete. The plotline involving both the lead heroes and their respective heroines is totally unresolved, which is the biggest flaw of the movie. You can make Sharmila Malla some random character Bhuwan KC is linked with. It won't affect much. And yes, Bhuwan KC .... he is just kind of mediocre in the film compared to all the others. It would've been much better if Tulasi Ghimire had worked on these parts slightly more than he did.
This is one of favorite films. In all honesty, I feel "Balidaan" is a better movie made by Ghimire, but I would love to watch this one and "Deuta" more than that.
Rating ~ Number Scale : 10/10; Letter Grade : A+
