Entertainment
Kollywood off to a brisk start in 2074
Coming off a fruitful 2073—that saw releases like the chart-busting Chhakka Panja, hits like Loot 2 and Bir Bikram, and international accolades for Seto Surya and Kalo Pothi—Kollywood has hit the ground running in 2074 as well.Coming off a fruitful 2073—that saw releases like the chart-busting Chhakka Panja, hits like Loot 2 and Bir Bikram, and international accolades for Seto Surya and Kalo Pothi—Kollywood has hit the ground running in 2074 as well. The three-day New Year’s weekend that saw the release of three movies—Radhe, Gham Pani and Love, Love, Love—have seen good returns with audiences taking to theatres nationwide.
Nikhil Upreti-starrer action flick Radhe raced to lead in the box office as the three ensemble-cast features competed for the audience’s attention after releasing simultaneously on Friday. According to the entertainment website moviemandu.com, Radhe raked in Rs 1.53 crore on its opening day, before slumping to a more moderate Rs 43 lakhs on Saturday and a further Rs 26 lakhs on Sunday. The movie is being screened at 60 theatres nationwide.
Journalist and film critic Dipendra Lama’s debut directorial Gham Pani, which features Dayahang Rai and Keki Adhikari who play a couple hailing from different ethnic communities struggling to negotiate with societal taboos, made a moderate haul of Rs 1 crore through the three-day weekend, according the website. Sooraj Pandey and Swastima Khadka starrer Love Love Love brought up the rear with a collection of Rs 50 Lakhs in the same time frame. Love Love Love is Dipendra Khanal’s eighth directorial, but has not been able to reap the same rewards as his previous hits like Pashupati Prasad and Chapali Heights.
The Nepali movie industry—which now is nearing a tipping point where it is able to market its new releases vociferously and hold its own against Bollywood and Hollywood films releasing in Nepal—might have had a buoyant 2073. But if the opening weekend of 2074—with its cumulative haul of over Rs 3 crore at the box office—is anything to go by, Kollywood is set to move from strength to strength this year as well.