Nepali Cinema, also referred to as "Nepali Chalachitra" in Nepali, is the filmmaking industry in Nepal. This includes films in various languages of Nepal, most notably in Nepali, Maithili and Bhojpuri. The term Kollywood is also used, as a portmanteau for films produced in the Nepali language while the Nepalese films produced from Kathmandu and Janakpur in the Maithili language is known as Mithilawood. Both of these film industries are the largest viewing cinema of Nepal and are collectively known as Kollywood.
Udit Narayan Jha is an Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Odia, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Malayalam, Assamese, Bagheli and Maithili. He has won four National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards with twenty nominations among many others. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution towards arts and culture. As many as 21 of his tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time".
South Asian cinema refers to the cinema of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The broader terms Asian cinema, Eastern cinema and Oriental cinema in common usage often encompass South Asia as well as East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Rajesh Hamal is a Nepalese film actor and television host. He is regarded as one of the most influential and popular actors in the history of Nepali cinema. He is popularly known as the "Maha Nayak" of the Nepali film Industry for being the highest-paid Nepalese actor throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. He is the first Nepalese actor to receive popularity across South Asia, holding several box office records in Nepali cinema, including the most commercially successful film as lead actor, most consecutive hits, and most awards as an actor.
Sambhujeet Baskota is a Nepali music composer, singer and lyricist. He is considered to be one of the most popular and prolific music composers and singers of Nepali cinema. He has composed music in more than 355 Nepali features films, more than 2,000 Nepali modern songs, folk songs and bhajans. He currently serves as a member of Vibhushan committee.
Niruta Singh is an Nepali actress known for her work in Nepali cinema. She started her career with the film Rahar (1993), which was directed by Tulsi Ghimire. She received wide acclaim for her performance in the 2001 film Darpan Chhaya, which became the highest-grossing film of all time in the Nepali film industry.
Darpan Chaya is a 2001 Nepalese romantic drama film, written and directed by Tulsi Ghimire. The film is produced by Shrawan Ghimire under the banner of Siddhanta Films. The film features an ensemble cast including Dilip Rayamajhi, Uttam Pradhan, and Niruta Singh in the lead roles, alongside Laxmi Giri, Tika Pahari, and Jeetu Nepal. The film's plot concerns a love triangle between two best friends where one of them is blind, fall in love with the same girl and the whole film follows their journey of friendship, love and sacrifice.
Bhuwan K.C. is a Nepalese actor, director, producer, singer, and politician known for his work in Nepali cinema. He is also the current chairman of Film Development Board, he was appointed for this position on 26 July 2022.
Kusume Rumal is a 1985 Nepali romantic film written and directed by Tulsi Ghimire. It was produced by Sumitra Paudel under the banner of Sayapatri Films. The film featured Bhuwan K.C, Tripti Nadakar, Udit Narayan and Neer Shah in lead roles. This was the first film in which singer Udit Narayan acted. It is one of the most loved films in Nepal and was the first Nepali film to celebrate silver jubilee.
Shrawan Ghimire is an Indian actor and film producer associated with Nepali language films. Ghimire has been involved in many commercially successful films including Lahure, Dui Thopa Aansu and Darpan Chaya. He and his brother Tulsi Ghimire's pair is regarded as the most successful and qualitative producer−director pair. his son's name is siddhartha ghimire.
Ranjit Gazmer, also credited as Ranjit Gajmer, is an Indian Gorkha musician and music director known for his contribution to the music industry of Nepali cinema. He had a long association with Indian music director R.D. Burman. He has composed for most of the films directed by Tulsi Ghimire, a renowned film director in Nepal.
Chino is a Nepali action drama film written and directed by Tulsi Ghimire. The film featured an ensemble cast of Shiva Shrestha, Bhuwan K.C., Sunil Thapa, Kristi Mainali, Sharmila Malla, Subhadra Adhikari, Shravan Ghimire, Sinaura Mistry, Anoop Malla and Sushila Raymajhi. The film is a revenge story of two brothers played by( played by Shiva Shrestha and Bhuwan K.C.) who are separated after their parents were killed by a criminal Rate Kaila(Sunil Thapa). How they reunite and find the reason why their parents were killed and take revenge forms the rest of the story. The film was shot entirely in Nepal.
Nischal Basnet is a Nepalese director, writer, actor and playback singer who predominantly works in Nepali cinema. Considered as one of the best directors of Nepali cinema, he is widely acclaimed for "revolutionizing Nepali cinema" through his realistic, dark and comic depiction of social problems prevalent in Nepal on celluloid screen. Basnet has directed three feature films: Loot (2012), Talakjung vs Tulke (2014) and Loot 2 (2017). He has acted in the films Kabaddi (2014), Dui Rupaiyan (2017), and Prasad (2018).
Bhojraj Bhatta, better known as Biraj Bhatta, is a Nepalese actor who is known for his work in Nepali cinema and Bhojpuri cinema. He has worked in some Nepali and Tharu language films as well. He has starred in more than 200 movies through different languages like Nepali, Bhojpuri & Tharu. He received National Film award for Best actor for Nepali movie Khal Nayak (2008).
Ujwal Ghimire is a Nepalese film director, actor, producer, story writer, ad/documentary maker and film educator. He is considered one of the most well-known and leading movie directors of the Nepalese film industry. He is a three times National Film Award (Nepal) winner, two times Nefta Film Award winner and earned number of other prestigious awards for his outstanding works. He also contributed in making the first television film in the history of television industry of Nepal in 1985.
'Darpan Chhaya 2' is a 2017 Nepalese drama film with Tulsi Ghimire's direction. It is the sequel to the blockbuster Nepalese film Darpan Chaya written by Tulsi Ghimire and released in 2001. The film stars Pushpal Khadka, Sahara Karki, Shiv Shrestha and Tulsi Ghimire. The film was considered hugely inferior to its predecessor and the film was a massive disaster at the box office.
Laxmi Giri is a Nepalese actress whose career spans more than 35 years. She worked on stage, television and in feature films of Nepali, Newari, Maithili, Tamang and Bhojpuri languages. She appeared in more than 150 feature films, over 600 television programs and nearly 20 advertisements.
Balidaan (Sacrifice) is a 1997 Nepali historical drama film, directed by Tulsi Ghimire, and written by Modanath Prasrit. It was produced by Shyam Sapkota under the banner of Cinema Nepal. The film is set in Panchayat-era Nepal, and depicts a fictionalised version of the contemporary democracy movement. It features Hari Bansha Acharya in the lead role, alongside Anjali Lama, Madan Krishna Shrestha, Shanti Maskey, Keshav Bhattarai, Laxmi Giri and Neer Shah. The film was a critical and commercial success.
