Historical profile of Nepali Cinema:

       Filmmakers and critics in Nepali movie industry have still been divided as to whether the history of Nepali movie begins from Satya Harischandra or Aama. Some argue that Satya Harischandra was not the first Nepali movie for two reasons: It was not produced in Nepal: all the work of this historic film was done in Darjeeling, India, and it was dubbed from an Indian movie of similar name. If we look back at the history of Indian movies, we find Satya Harsichandra to be the first movie produced in any Indian language.
          However, filmmakers like Tulsi Ghimire claim that Satya Harishchandra was a genuine Nepali movie. Some argued that giving Satya Harischandra the status of the first Nepali movie would be an insult to the palace as it was a film produced by a Dalit. Even after the abolition of monarchy, the Kollywood has not been ready to recognize it as the first Nepali movie on the ground that it was not produced from Nepal. If we take Satya Harischnadra as the first Nepali cinema, then the history of cinema in Nepal is 59 years long.
      Aama, released almost 14 years after Harischandra’s release, is officially recognized as the first Nepali movie. Aama was produced under the initiative of the palace to promote the Panchayat polity under the then publicity department’s film division and was released in 2022 BS. King Mahendra himself had invited its director Hirasingh Khatri from Mumbai, India, and Khatri left Kathmandu after making three pro-Panchayat films—Aama, Paribartan and Hijo, Aaja, Bholi. All the artistes of these films were Nepali nationals.
       Maitighar, the first commercial film made by the private sector, set the tone for the real development of the film industry. Nanda Kishor Timilsina had a crucial role in making of Maitighar. B. S. Thapa was the director of the first commercial movie that starred Mala Sinha and C P Lohani. However, Maitighar did not prove to be a source that could bring about vigorous private sector in making films. Only Juni, produced 18 years after Aama, could inspire the private sector to be involved in filmmaking.
       The black and white Nepali movies turned to colour by the time Kumari was produced. It was rather a slow pace in which the film industry moved forward. Seventeen years and only five films!
       By the 1980s, the private sector almost completely replaced the government sector productions. Some of the best Nepali films like Jivan Rekha, Kanchhi, Chino etc. were produced in the 1980s. Filmmakers who had been to Mumbai earlier contributed to the development of Nepalese movies. Prakash Thapa and Tulsi Ghimire played a key role in this regard.