The hour-long documentary incorporates the history of the Nepali Congress (NC) from its formation in the late 1940s to 2007, along with the country’s democratic movement.
So “It can particularly be informative to the new generation,” says the director.An assemblage of black & white videos, photographs, old newspaper clippings, and color shots of recent political events of Nepal, the documentary also has a few video clippings and recorded speeches of the late NC leader Bishweshwar Prasad (BP) Koirala. Recent shots of Sundarijal, Biratnagar and Timurbote of Solukhumbu, where some of the important events related to NC took place, also share space with the old clippings.
Prior to making the documentary, Shahi, along with his ten crew members, conducted research for two years.“It almost took a year for scriptwriting and another one for collecting materials, like videos, photos etc,” informs Shahi.Video clips and photographs were collected from the leaders’ families, and a few of them have been dug out from the party’s archives.
“Tracking down some of the shots, like the late king Mahendra’s car, which was bombed by the Party during the 1960s, was particularly difficult. Nobody exactly had the information about the whereabouts of the car,” shares Shahi.The first half of the documentary revolves mainly around NC’s participation in the revolutions of the 1950s and ‘90s with BP as the central character. Clips of the first general elections of 1959, BP’s visits to China and India after his appointment as the first democratically and majority-elected prime minister of Nepal in 1959 are some of the clips that can be new to present-day audience.
“A few visuals of BP have been repeated intentionally as the new generation isn’t familiar with him, and also due to the lack of videos,” shares Shahi.Premiered amidst a handful people on June 28 at Nepal Tourism Board, the documentary will be screened nationwide after the forthcoming general assembly of the NC concludes. “Initially, it’ll be screened in the five development regions in July/August, and then we’ll move to all the 75 districts in August/September,” says Shahi.The documentary has been narrated by journalist Suresh Poudel and will also be dubbed in English within the next two months.The documentary is a simple serialization of important events from the 1950s to 2007, and avoids investigative reporting and explanatory narratives. Unfamiliar names like Tarini Prasad Koirala, a journalist and writer and the other younger brother of BP, has also been brought forth in the documentary. Though youth and women leaders come into sight now and then, not much has been mentioned about them.
“The documentary is focused on the Party’s history, and summarizing it became our major concern,” observes the director.NC Vice President Prakash Man Singh, who was present at the documentary’s screening, sees it as a good attempt to bring the party in the limelight. However, he believes that with some alterations in the future, amendments can be brought in the documentary.
And so feels the director, too.“If there are any good suggestions on the way, we’re ready to make changes to standardize the documentary’s quality.”By:SUMINA KARKI
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