Dhanapati to experiment with English subtitles

The Khagendra Lamichhane-starrer drama seeks to rope in non-Nepali viewers and tourists to its screenings in a new experiment for Kollywood

Jun 20, 2017-
As Dhanpati’s release date nears, the excitement among moviegoers to see Khagendra Lamichhane in his new avatar is steadily growing. Recently, as part of the promotion, the film has even launched a campaign via Facebook—titled Meet Dhanapati—as part of which, the audiences to be chosen from a lucky draw will get a chance to meet actor Lamichhane at the movie’s premiere.
But apart from being a much-awaited movie for the calendar year—which critics expect to fare well in the box office—the movie makers have announced that as an experiment, the movie will be screened with English subtitles at Kumari Hall in the Capital.
“Yes, we are experimenting,” said director Dipendra Khanal in a conversation with the Post, “Honouring the interest that foreign tourists show towards Nepali films, we are screening the movie with subtitles at Kumari Hall. This will, hopefully, help us to connect with more audiences.”
This is the first time a commercial mainstream movie is being screen with subtitles, a feature once exclusively limited to historical or regional movies and documentaries.
“We hope that the English subtitles will help audiences with the rustic accents that we have used in the movie in order to make it authentic. We also hope that this will begin a new trend among Nepali films. The main motive of a film is to entertain and to communicate, and with the English subtitles, we hope it will also work as a cultural bridge,” Khanal added.
Most Nepali movies are aimed for a fixed demographic and, more often than not, struggle to do well in multiplexes in urban areas. But now with the industry diversifying and new themes being explored, movie critics have welcomed this as a progressive step.  “This feature, we hope, will not only help audiences with the theatre experience, but will also be a step towards drawing tourists and non-Nepali speakers to theatres as well,” Khannal said.
Bollywood movies have been using subtitles to diversify their audiences to great effect in recent decades. This has resulted in the industry being able to reap in the dollars in overseas collections—not just with the massive Indian Diaspora but among non-Indian viewers as well. For instance, Dangal roped in $30 million in overseas collections, while Bahubali was able to make $27.7 million within the first month of its release.
Dhanapati’s producers (the film is produced by Tukee Arts and Dipendra K. Khanal Productions) also released the film’s first song, Sukha Dukha, via Youtube on Friday. Within three days of its release, the song, which is accompanied by a video featuring the film’s two leads, Lamichhane and Surakshya Pant, has been viewed about 44,000 times.  The song is composed by Aadha Sur and is sung jointly by Aadha Sur and Sharada Adhikari.
Along with Lamichhane and Pant, the film, a ‘socio-political drama,’ features actors Manish Niraula, Aashant Sharma, Surabi Bartaula, and Harihar Sharma, among others.
Dhanapati will hit theatres starting July 7.