After Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide, the groupism and nepotism debate that started in Bollywood even did not leave Nepal. During the corona epidemic, the Nepali film industry was divided into two parts. Some were of the opinion that people with talent could not move forward due to the prevalence of groupism and nepotism, while others did not consider it a necessary topic for debate.
‘Prakash’ famed director Dinesh Raut insists that talking about nepotism in the Nepali film industry is not meaningful. In the session on ‘Casting in Films: Importance and Practice’ of Nepal International Film Festival (NIF) on Sunday, he said that some limited filmmakers have brought their second generation to films, but since their number is negligible, there is no point in debating this matter.
I don’t think it makes sense to talk about nepotism in the Nepali film industry. Because, until a little while ago, even one’s family would not approve of working in a film. How can you believe that there is familism, if the family did not encourage their children to do films? A few limited filmmakers have brought their next generation into this profession. It is negligible. If it is more, it will be 10 percent and I don’t think that we should discuss about that 10 percent. That kind of nepotism is not happening in our film industry,’ he said.
He said that even the established actors of today do not think that their children should be brought into the film industry. He admits that there is groupism rather than nepotism in Nepali films. Raut says, ‘Groupism is there, you are working by forming your own team. However, if we talk about our Nepali film industry group, it is a lot! Even if it is divided from there, it will be very bad!’
He is not even ready to accept groupism as wrong. He does not think it is bad to work with the same team repeatedly to produce good work. It is important to know who you are comfortable working with. I don’t think it is bad to repeat the work if the actor is comfortable with the actor who has already worked and if the character suits him. It makes the project more mature and excellent,’ he continues, ‘if any problem occurs while making a film, it affects the project itself. The reason a maker works repeatedly with the same artist is to find ‘comfort’. It is wrong to say that we do not work in other groups outside of this group.
He said that he also repeats from artist to technician. It is his experience that it makes him easy to work. Raut says that when you work with strangers, you get to understand each other and that affects the project. According to him, everyone has an important role in film making, so it is necessary for everyone to know and understand each other closely.
