Sitara Devi’s disciple brings adult film to Nepal

KATHMANDU - Harihar Acharya, a disciple of Indian classical dance doyenne Sitara Devi, is charting a new course for Nepal’s film industry by producing the country’s first adult movie.

Acharya, 47, who trained in Kathak with Sitara Devi in Jaipur followed by an eight-year stint at the Delhi Kathak Kendra, is set to launch “Pal Pal Ma”, the first Nepali film with an ‘Adults Only’ certificate that brings to the conservative republic a murky tale of escort services, male prostitution, cyber sex and adultery.

“The censors did not ask me to delete even one bit,” says an upbeat Acharya, who also trained in Mumbai under a scholarship from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The film is intended only for viewers above 16 years.

Directed by Ukesh Dhakal, the film revolves around two street urchins who become male prostitutes employed by an escort service.

One of them is hired by a married woman. He also falls in love with a young girl he meets while frequenting chatrooms on the Internet, little knowing that she is the daughter of his mistress.

When he realises the stunning fact, his mistress is pregnant and the hopelessness of the situation makes him mentally unbalanced.

His friend in the meantime has become enamoured of a married woman, whose husband, like thousands of Nepalis, has gone abroad in search of greener pastures, leaving her lonely and frustrated.

While he is deeply in love, she thinks of him as a casual fling and goes abroad herself soon.

The abandoned lover tries to kill himself. Though he fails, he becomes a mental wreck, ending up in the same mental asylum where his friend is.

“I have tried to highlight the prevailing permissiveness and other phenomena in Nepal’s society today, like the fallout of ‘lahure’ culture (people going abroad in search of jobs),” says Acharya.

“My message is that self-restraint and dignity have to be maintained at any cost. When you discard them, you make a tragic mistake that leads to more mistakes.”

Acharya, who also dabbles in acting as well as astrology, has premiered the much talked-about film in the capital in a special show and is waiting for its release in theatres this summer.

With its promos showing a bare-backed couple in bed, “Pal Pal Ma” - which literally means ‘in every moment’ - is already a topic of hot discussion because of the scenes that show couples kissing and making love.

“The love scenes are not indecorous,” says Acharya. “The women wear body stockings. The scenes are there because the plot requires them, not for mere titillation.”

Though romance remains the staple of Nepal’s film industry, directors tend to be demure, shying away from bold scenes.

It was only in 2008 that the first kiss was shown on the Nepali silver screen, courtesy maverick director Bhushan Dahal’s “Kagbeni”, an adaptation of the supernatural 20th century classic, “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacob.

(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)