10 Nepali films that bring old memories and new conversations to Dashain

KATHMANDU: During Dashain, family members gather in one place. Some have returned home after years, while others are meeting their old friends and relatives. Along with tika, jamara, food, and gatherings, there is also an opportunity to watch movies with the family during leisure time.

Nepali cinema doesn’t just feature stories of family, love, and relationships. There are also stories of the struggles of youth who left villages for cities, the waiting of families of people gone abroad, existing discrimination in society, and political changes. Some films make you laugh, some make you cry, and some raise questions about the society we are living in.

These 10 films that can be watched during the Dashain vacation have been chosen keeping that diversity in mind. These are not a ranking of the all-time best Nepali films. It is a selection of movies that are fun for different generations to watch together, refresh old memories, and spark conversations even after the film ends.

Relationships between family and generations

1. Fulbari

Director Ram Babu Gurung

Fulbari is a film with a story directly connected to Dashain gatherings.

At its center is the relationship between a couple spending their post-retirement life in Ilam and their children busy with their own lives in the city. When the family gathers during Dashain, the gap between financial needs, parents’ expectations, and children’s priorities begins to show.

Starring artists including Bipin Karki, Aruna Karki, Dayahang Rai, and Priyanka Karki, the film raises questions of old age, family responsibilities, and generational gaps.

How should children take care of their parents? How much expectation should parents keep from their children? Such questions are blended into the story of the film.

When children returning home for Dashain and their parents sit and watch it together, its emotion may feel even closer.

Laughter and entertainment

2. Kabaddi

Director Ram Babu Gurung

Kaji, living in a village in Mustang, wants to marry Maiya. Maiya, however, has her own dreams. With the entry of another character in love, the story moves forward through humorous situations and misunderstandings.

Starring Dayahang Rai, Rishma Gurung, and Nischal Basnet, Kabaddi is a film loved for its rural life, local dialects, and natural humor.

It makes love a subject of entertainment. But it also raises the question of how much importance is given to a young woman’s freedom and consent in love.

This is a suitable choice for those looking for light entertainment with family or friends during Dashain.

3. Jatrai Jatra

Director Pradip Bhattarai

Jatrai Jatra is a film that portrays urban life in Kathmandu, economic scarcity, and the temptation of sudden wealth through humor.

This is another installment of the 2016 film Jatra. The characters from the previous film fall into new troubles again. This time, an incident connected to gold turns their lives upside down.

Starring Bipin Karki, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Rabindra Jha, Dayahang Rai, and Barsa Raut, the film blends economic crisis, crime, and greed with humor.

Its fun lies in the awkward situations continuously created by the characters. But the question raised by the film is serious, how does an ordinary person’s decision change if an opportunity to earn money easily comes along?

This film is suitable for those who want to spend time laughing with family members and friends during Dashain. Those who have watched the previous Jatra can understand the background of the characters even better.

Memories of the older generation

4. Kusume Rumal

Director Tulsi Ghimire

When remembering the popularity of love stories and songs in Nepali cinema, Kusume Rumal cannot be left out.

A triangular story is formed when Arjun’s one-sided attraction is added to the love between Amar and Suniti. Love, sacrifice, social conditions, and the ups and downs of human relationships are the main themes of the film.

The songs of this film, starring Bhuvan KC, Tripti Nadakar, and Udit Narayan Jha, have held a place in the hearts of Nepali audiences for a long time.

Compared to today’s cinema, its acting and storytelling may feel a bit dramatic. But for viewers of the older generation, this is a memory connected with their youth and the Nepali cinema of that time.

Watching it with parents or grandparents during Dashain provides a chance to hear their old experiences and memories.

5. Lahure

Director Tulsi Ghimire

Going abroad is not a new experience for Nepali society. Long before today’s foreign employment, there was a tradition of going abroad as Gorkha soldiers.

Lahure tells the story of the risks of military life, the pain of staying away from family, and the waiting.

Starring artists including Shrawan Ghimire, Tripti Nadakar, and Tulsi Ghimire, the film shows the emotional price paid by the family along with the achievements of the individual going to work abroad.

Its presentation is connected with the heroic and emotional style of old Nepali cinema. But the questions of family, distance, and return home raised by the film remain equally relevant today.

Its story can feel even more meaningful in the memory of relatives who returned from abroad or family members who could not return during Dashain.

Culture, identity, and women’s rights

6. Numafung

Director Nabin Subba

Numafung is a film that sensitively presents the cultural diversity of Nepali society and the lives of women.

The life of Numa, from the Limbu community of eastern Nepal, is tied to marriage, social traditions, and family expectations. She struggles between her own desires and the rules of the community.

With artists like Anupama Subba, Nihangma Limbu, Prem Subba, and Alok Nembang, the feature of the film is its quiet storytelling.

In it, the village environment, local language, customs, and traditions are not used merely as visual decoration. Their impact on the lives of the characters is shown.

This film sparks a debate that when talking about preserving culture, questions must also be raised about unequal practices within that culture.

Watching it with the family during Dashain can lead to meaningful conversations about tradition and personal freedom.

7. Jaari

Director Upendra Subba

Jaari places the marital relationship of the Limbu society and the social tradition connected with it at the center of the story.

In the setting of Panchthar, the marital relationship between Namsang and Hangma deteriorates. With the changes in their relationship, questions of the jaari practice, compensation, family prestige, and women’s right to decide are raised.

Starring artists like Dayahang Rai, Miruna Magar, Prem Subba, and Bijay Baral, the film effectively utilizes palam, the local language, and the cultural environment.

However, showing culture and presenting the power dynamics within it critically are not the same thing. A critical debate regarding the freedom and role of female characters also takes place in this film.

By watching Numafung and Jaari back-to-back, one can compare how Nepali cinema has changed in the presentation of Limbu society over an interval of more than two decades.

Poverty, politics, and social change

8. Pashupati Prasad

Director Dipendra K. Khanal

Pashupati Prasad is the story of a young man who comes to Kathmandu from a village to pay off his parents’ debts after losing them in the earthquake.

Finding work in the city, gathering expenses, and living with dignity become a huge struggle for him.

Starring artists like Khagendra Lamichhane, Bipin Karki, Barsa Siwakoti, and Prakash Ghimire, the film shows the economic inequality of Kathmandu and the lives of low-income people.

Though characters like Bhasme Don add humor to the story, the core issue is serious. Is poverty a personal failure or a social problem connected to the opportunities people get?

The film has an indirect connection with people returning to villages during Dashain. It raises the question of why one has to go from a village to the city and why the city does not provide equal opportunities to everyone.

9. Seto Surya (White Sun)

Director Dipak Rauniyar

Seto Surya is the story of political divisions remaining in family and society after the armed conflict in Nepal.

After the death of former Maoist combatant Chandra, he returns to the village for funeral rites. But even the ordinary family responsibility of taking the body to the cremation ground clashes with political differences, social rules, and caste discrimination.

Featuring artists like Dayahang Rai, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Asha Magrati, and Amrit Pariyar, the film presents a large political question through the incident of a single family.

Its feature is not dividing characters easily as right or wrong. The story moves forward on how a single family responsibility connects people carrying different political experiences.

Watching this film together with relatives holding different political views during Dashain can spark conversations about conflict and reconciliation.

10. Talakjung vs Tulke

Director Nischal Basnet

Tulke, who has been facing insults and mistreatment in the village, is searching for his identity and respect. But his personal struggle becomes connected with the class inequality of the village and the Maoist armed conflict.

Talakjung vs Tulke shows the impact of political and social changes on the lives of ordinary people. Poverty, exploitation, revenge, and the desire to establish one’s existence are the main themes of the film.

Written by and starring Khagendra Lamichhane in the lead role, the film features artists including Richa Sharma, Sushank Mainali, Rabindra Singh Baniya, Prakash Ghimire, and Dayahang Rai.

Although the film has a background of political conflict, at its center are not grand political declarations. There is the life of a single man struggling to gain respect in society. Both humor and pain are found in Tulke’s helplessness, his changing behavior, and the irony created by circumstances.

Some events in the story are dramatic. But showing the power relationships of the village and the impact of conflict on ordinary people is a strong aspect of the film.

Watching this film with the family during Dashain provides a chance to converse on the question of what ordinary people gained from Nepal’s conflict-era society, class relations, and political changes.

Which film to choose in Dashain?

Those wanting to spend a fun family evening during Dashain can choose Kabaddi or Jatrai Jatra. Fulbari is there to think about the relationship between parents and children. Kusume Rumal and Lahure are there to refresh old memories.

To understand the cultural diversity of Nepali society and questions of women’s rights, Numafung and Jaari can be watched together. Pashupati Prasad is suitable for understanding the struggle of a youth who came from a village to the city, and Balidan and Seto Surya are suitable for discussing political history and change.

These 10 films not only show the four-decade journey of Nepali cinema but also encompass various experiences of a changing society. Stories ranging from love and family relationships to culture, economic inequality, and political struggle are found on screen.

The fun of watching a film together during Dashain can remain even after the story on screen ends. Because there is not much distance between the life shown by some films and the life we have lived.