The year was 2009. Prabin Khatiwada and his fellow theatre actors were going through a hard time as Aarohan Gurukul (Gurukul Theatre), one of Nepal’s largest and oldest drama school, was on the verge of closure. The theatre was a source of livelihood for many in the field. It was also the premier platform where artists showcased their passion for performing arts. Around the same time, director Nischal Basnet approached Khatiwada with a script and expressed his interest in creating a short film.

Recognising the script’s potential, Khatiwada proposed transforming it into a full-length feature film. “After thorough preparation, Basnet, Saugat Malla, Dayahang Rai and I crafted a script and produced a movie,” Khatiwada says. The stakes were high as the theatre had just closed, and the actors found themselves with no solid ground. “If the movie failed, our situation would have been dire. My family was already urging me to go abroad,” he shares.

The initial week was nerve-wracking, with minimal audience feedback and a low turnout in the halls. However, as the film reached its second week, the audience grew, and ‘Loot’ became a massive success, providing a lifeline for the struggling actors.

Khatiwada was born in 1984 in Letang, Morang, in the eastern part of Nepal. From his school days, he felt a pull towards performing arts, though he didn’t fully commit to it back then. “I was considered a good student, so everyone insisted I take science in Plus Two,” he recalls. However, science wasn’t his strength and despite all his efforts, he quit the subject.

In 2002, he arrived in Kathmandu and began studying journalism at Ratna Rajya Campus. It was during this time that he first visited Gurukul Theatre. The experience left a lasting impression on him. Watching actors express themselves on stage ignited a spark and a desire within Khatiwada. He says, “The first thought that came to my mind was, ‘I wanted to do this.’”

He became a regular at the theatre, seldom missing a show. As he immersed himself in the arts and literary circle, he realised why science had been a struggle—his true interest lay in the world of arts.

Around 2004, Khatiwada learned that the Gurukul Theatre was looking for in-house actors. Naturally, he wanted to apply and when Sunil Pokharel, who is often called the “pioneer of modern Nepali theatre”, said to him, “You only come here to watch. How about acting in those plays too?” This further motivated him to try out acting.

The theatre was taking in only three actors and out of the 164 applicants, Khatiwada secured one of the spots. His first play was ‘Agniko Katha’, written by Abhi Subedi and directed by Pokharel. After the first rehearsal, Khatiwada found out that acting was not as easy as he had thought.

In the beginning, synchronising his dialogues and body movements was challenging for him. “Either I was messing up the dialogues or my movements. I just couldn’t put them together,” he remembers. Pokharel, seeing the new guy struggle, advised him to be his natural self and not to pressure himself. Gradually, he improved. “But it wasn’t until the next year that I realised how to correct myself,” he shares.

Khatiwada got through his first play and he remembers Abhi Subedi’s feedback being, “You managed.” Sometime later, when they were showing this play at a festival, Subedi reached out to him and said Khatiwada had finally understood his character and what his role demanded.

Describing his earlier days in the Gurukul Theatre, he recalls being the “12th man”—a substitute. When someone fell ill or missed the play, Khatiwada was asked to step in. “But I loved every moment of it. I was passionate about acting and the positive environment in the school made it more memorable,” he says.

A total of 16 in-house actors resided in Gurukul at the time. “We lived and breathed theatre. From morning till night, all we discussed was acting. It was impossible to separate us from acting,” he recalls. The camaraderie built among the co-actors through shared moments and discussions about theatre was evident on stage. And when someone didn’t have an acting role in a play, they were still involved in the production, looking after the off-stage aspects.

Their friendship also involved pulling pranks on one another. One favourite involved hiding an actor’s prop right before they entered the stage for their part.

By the time Gurukul closed, Khatiwada had also ventured into directing. His directorial debut was ‘Hedda Gabler’, shown at Shilpee Theatre. After directing a few plays, he says his family finally believed theatre could also provide a stable source of income. He says they were worried when Gurukul closed, so his doing well even after that reassured them.

When ‘Loot’ also became a major success after releasing in 2012, Khatiwada became a bigger name in the industry. He was a casting director and an actor in the movie. To date, he has acted in over 32 plays and directed around 30. He was also an assistant director in various teleserials and movies such as ‘Singha Durbar’ and ‘Kalo Pothi’. He also recently published a story collection titled, ‘Akathya’.

Recalling his time at Gurukul, he says even though he remembers it being fun, there was also a sense of fear and discipline. “We were cautious not to make any mistakes and disciplined enough to address any mishaps that occurred,” he says. He adds that this is missing in artists today.

He believes artists today care more about fame than perfecting their craft, and that many today don’t seem to have the discipline or determination required to be good actors.

“We’ve embraced mediocrity as sufficient and stopped putting in the hard work,” he remarks. To change this, he insists that it’s not enough for just one or two individuals to take charge; the entire industry must adopt discipline and exert more effort.

Whenever he teaches acting, he always tells his students to be the character rather than to show the character when they are acting. He believes acting is not about doing but about being—being in the moment and feeling what the character feels. That is what makes acting lifelike.

For Khatiwada, acting is an opportunity to live the lives of people different from himself. “While acting, I get to live the life of others, and in this pursuit, I understand so much about my own life,” he says.