History of Nepali Cinema (Kollywood): From 1951 to Today

The first Nepali-language film was Satya Harishchandra (also written simply as Harishchandra), released on 14 September 1951 (Bhadra 2008 BS). It was made not in Nepal but in Kolkata and Darjeeling, India, on the initiative of D. B. Pariyar, and was produced under the 'Bihar National Movietone' banner. Based on the Hindu mythological story of the truthful king Harishchandra, the film mattered less for its production values than for a single milestone: it carried the Nepali language onto the big screen for the first time.

Because the priority at the time was simply getting Nepali onto film, the people involved focused on the language rather than on documentation. As a result, complete and reliable credits for the film were never carefully recorded, and several technical details remain contested among historians. What is not disputed is its date and its status as the first Nepali-language feature.

It is important to distinguish 'first Nepali-language film' from 'first film made in Nepal'. Satya Harishchandra was the former, produced across the border in India; the first film actually produced inside Nepal would not arrive until 1964. This distinction is the single most common point of confusion in searches for the 'first Nepali movie', and both answers are correct depending on the exact question.

Aama ('Mother'), released on 7 October 1964 (Ashoj 2021 BS), is recognised as the first feature film produced in Nepal. It was directed by Hira Singh Khatri in his directorial debut and was produced by the Information Department of the Government of Nepal under the patronage of King Mahendra, making it a state-sponsored production rather than a commercial one.

The story follows a young man who returns home after serving in the army, a narrative chosen partly to carry themes of duty and nation-building to Nepali audiences. The film starred Shiva Shankar Manandhar and Bhuwan Chand, with Basundhara Bhusal and Hari Prasad Rimal among the supporting cast. Some of the film's indoor filming and post-production work was still carried out in Kolkata, reflecting the limited studio infrastructure available in Kathmandu at the time.

Aama established a template of government-driven filmmaking that would shape the next decade. Director Hira Singh Khatri went on to make Hijo Aaja Bholi (1967) and Parivartan (1971), films that similarly blended entertainment with messages of patriotism and social reform, consolidating the state's early role as the primary producer of Nepali cinema.

If Aama was the state's film, Maitighar (released at the end of 1966, 2023 BS) was the first Nepali feature made under a private banner. It was produced by Sumonanjali Films Pvt. Ltd. and directed by B. S. Thapa, marking the entry of private capital into a field that had until then been almost entirely government-led.

Maitighar is also notable for its cross-border star power: the lead role was played by the celebrated Indian actress Mala Sinha, alongside Nepali actor Chidambar Prasad Lohani. The film's music and emotional, socially-themed storytelling made it both a commercial success and a cultural landmark, demonstrating that Nepali films could draw audiences on their own merits.

The success of a privately produced feature signalled that Nepali cinema could grow beyond the state's information-and-propaganda mandate. It opened the door, over the following decades, to the commercial 'Kollywood' industry, even though private production would remain small and irregular until the 1980s.

In 1971 (2028 BS) the Government of Nepal established a dedicated state film body, the Royal Nepal Film Corporation (in some official records styled the Royal Nepal Film Institute, established on 2 November 1971). Its purpose was to standardise film production, build professional capacity and develop studio facilities, including land developed at Balaju in Kathmandu. Mann Ko Bandh, which premiered in Kathmandu in 1973, is regarded as the first film produced by the corporation.

Through the 1970s the corporation anchored a slowly professionalising industry. Paral Ko Aago (1978), directed by Pratap Subba and based on a story by the writer Guru Prasad Mainali, is remembered as an early artistic high point of this period. It was around this time, too, that women began taking technical roles behind the camera in Nepali cinema.

The 1980s were the industry's first real commercial boom. A string of films between roughly 1984 and 1993, including Samjhana, Kusume Rumal, Lahure, Kanchhi, Basudev and Saino, drew large audiences. Kusume Rumal (1985), written and directed by Tulsi Ghimire, is widely regarded as the industry's first true blockbuster and reportedly enjoyed an unusually long theatrical run, cementing a star system around actors such as Bhuwan K.C.

After the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990 (2046-47 BS), private production expanded sharply. By the early-to-mid 1990s well over a hundred films had been produced within a few years, and the number of cinema halls across the country rose to several hundred. Melodramatic family and romance films dominated, and Nepali cinema seemed set for sustained commercial growth.

That trajectory was broken by the decade-long Maoist insurgency (1996-2006). Curfews, security restrictions, attacks on and bombings of cinema halls, and a general climate of insecurity drove audiences away and shut down screenings, especially outside the Kathmandu Valley. Many cinema halls closed, and a large share of actors, technicians and filmmakers left the country in search of work abroad.

By the height of the conflict, production and release of new Nepali films had slowed dramatically, with annual output falling well below its 1990s peak. The industry that emerged after the fighting ended would look markedly different from the one that entered the war, both in how films were made and in who was making them.

The Comprehensive Peace Accord of November 2006 (2063 BS) ended the armed conflict and set the stage for recovery. Theatres reopened, filmmakers returned, and, crucially, the technology of filmmaking changed. Kagbeni, directed by Bhusan Dahal and released on 10 January 2008 (2064 BS), is widely credited as the first Nepali digital feature film; shooting on digital cameras sharply lowered costs and lowered the barrier to entry for a new generation of independent producers.

The 2010s brought what many call the Nepali 'new wave'. Loot (2012, 2069 BS), directed by Nischal Basnet, was a gritty urban heist thriller that broke sharply from formulaic melodrama, connected with young audiences and became a commercial and critical turning point. It was followed by films such as Kabaddi (2014) and a wave of genre experiments that raised production standards and audience expectations.

Digital production also drove up the sheer volume of releases. Where the pre-conflict industry had rarely exceeded a few dozen films a year, releases climbed steadily through the 2010s, with reports of roughly a hundred or more Nepali films released annually in the peak years of the decade. Nepali cinema also expanded its diaspora market abroad, screening for Nepali communities across India, the Gulf, East Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.

The industry is popularly nicknamed 'Kollywood', a play on Bollywood using the 'K' of Kathmandu. It is regulated primarily by the Film Development Board (Chalachitra Vikas Board), established on 30 June 2000 (2057 BS) by the Government of Nepal under the Motion Picture (Production, Exhibition and Distribution) Act (as amended in 1991), operating under what is today the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

The Film Development Board's remit spans research, planning, production support, a film library and archive, festivals and international relations. It also acts as the bridge between filmmakers and government processes, from facilitation and censorship-related coordination to the tracking of box-office and release data. The older state production body of the 1970s has effectively given way to this regulatory-and-promotional model, with production itself now overwhelmingly private.

Beyond the Nepali-language mainstream, Nepal is also home to films in other languages of the country, including a distinct Tharu-language cinema and productions in Maithili, Bhojpuri, Newar and other languages. Together these strands make 'the cinema of Nepal' broader than the single Kathmandu-centred Kollywood industry, even though Nepali-language films remain the largest and most visible part of it.