Recent years have seen Kollywood feature films branch out from the dime-a-dozen boy-meets-girl romances to explore genres like science-fiction, horror and comedy dramas. But in what is a first, Khagendra Lamichhane and Anup Baral-starrer Damaru ko Dandibiyo is slated to bring a sports drama to big screens across the country starting today.

The film tells the story of Damaru (Khagendra Lamichhane) who returns to his village with the aim of reviving the game of Dandi Biyo. “But his father (Anup Baral), who was once a good player, opposes his move and wants him to concentrate on his career instead. Damaru then is left with no option but to defeat his father in a Dandi Biyo match if he wants to pursue his dream,” the film’s producers have said.

Written by Lamichhane, Damaru ko Dandibiyo is directed by Chhetan Gurung, in what will be his debut directorial. Prior to this, director Gurung was involved as a writer for films such as November Rain and Diary.

The film, which was shot around Lamjung, Manang, and Kathmandu, will features actors Menuka Pradhan, Ankit Khadka, Aashant Sharma, Buddhi Tamang, Laxmi Bardewa, Mihri Thapa, and Namita Ghising.

Speaking to the Post on the eve of the film’s release, actor Lamichhane said, “When the director came up with the idea, I was instantly hooked. Dandi biyo is considered our national sport but that is about it. The sport in itself is dying out and just lamenting about it is not enough. So, we thought it would be a good idea to develop a film to see if we can revive the game and its popularity.”

“We also wanted to showcase that the game is a complex one with its own set of rules and guidelines.”

“A lot of my previous movies have revolved around social issues, particularly focusing on an ordinary, marginalised person,” he added, “But here we have focused on the sports genre and have tried to make the movie into a family drama. It is a story about a person who is trying revive a dying tradition.”

When asked how he expects the audience to receive the novel movie Lamichhane said, “We’ve worked really hard on the project and now we leave it to the audience to decide how they want to receive it. When you’ve been working in the industry for so long, you learn not to have concrete expectations of how a movie will do in the box office. But we are hopeful that people will appreciate what we have tried to do.”