The first look of director Anup Baral’s upcoming directorial, Dokh, was released via social media on Friday, marking the Nepali New Year 2075. The film, a social drama, is a fictional rendition of incidents that happened during the ten-year long Maoist’s insurgency, according to director Baral. 

“The film is a fictional retelling of the various incidents that occurred around Nepal during the insurgency,” director Baral said. 

“The film is structured around how a game of football gives way to power politics and revenge.” 

The first look of Dokh features a scene where an armed soldier, shot from behind, looking towards a football ground, with a football in front of him. 

Dokh is director Baral’s second feature directorial, following Fitkiree (2014), which received mixed reviews. As one reviewer wrote, “There is certainly no shortage of displays of technique in the film, indulging as it does in unconventional shots and transitions between scenes, as well as playing around with chronology.

But as stylish as these elements prove, they don’t necessarily add any substance, seemingly tagged on to convolute and complicate what could’ve been a very simple, and probably more effective, story.” 

Baral is primarily noted for his works in theatre and as an acting instructor with the Actors’ Studio. Besides, Baral has also appeared in about a dozen Nepali features, including Badhshala, Fanko, and the upcoming Damaru ko Dandibiyo, in which he plays the lead alongside Khagendra Lamichhane. 

Dokh is written by Rajan Kathet—who is a graduate of film studies from the Kathmandu University and a Cycle City campaigner—and features actors Deeya Maskey, Manish Niraula, Lokmani Sapkota, Maotse Gurung, Roy Deev, Suraj Malla, Dev Neupane, and Kamal Devkota, among others. 

Filmed under the banner of SGT Production and Green Hill Entertainment, Dokh is produced by Sabin Gyawali, edited by Nimesh Gautam, and features background score by Aavash. While the film features songs written by poet Shrawan Mukarung and sung by Nepathya frontman Amrit Gurung. 

Dokh is currently in post-production and the release date is yet to be announced.