Impressive Beauty Poojana Pradhan!

Poojana Pradhan is already an established name in the glamour circles of Nepal. She has been in the entertainment business for almost five years and now she informs us that her last name is actually not Pradhan but Gurung. She says, "My mother's name is Uma Pradhan and my father's Khadga Bahadur Gurung. They divorced when I was a kid and my dad married another woman. I started living with my mom and since the time I can remember I have always used Pradhan and not Gurung. However, on my citizenship and passport, I am referred to as Gurung!" Quite a dilemma one would reckon! She further informs, "I used to spell my name as Puja and it has just been only a few months that I have started writing my name as Poojana. Numerological effect you know!"

As of now, she is working on two movies simultaneously. "I am quite busy with the shooting of 'Kalo Baaz' directed by Deepak Basnet. The other one is 'Timi Ko Hau'. This is again directed by Deepak Basnet. Come Chait and I will be doing another movie called 'Champion' directed by Pradip Shrestha and produced by Maunata Shrestha," informs Poojana.

Things have been going pretty good for her lately. Only yesterday she completed the shooting of a music video -- "Mero Yaad Timilai", directed by Suresh Darpan Pokahrel and Dinesh Adhikari. And this is not where her hectic activities end. She just came back from a trip to Qatar where she had a show and come February 15, she will be leaving for Korea along with 1974 AD. This program is scheduled for February 20. As soon as she returns back from Korea, she will be leaving for Belgium, UK and Australia, for performances for which the dates have already been finalized. "I shall be performing on songs from Nepali films as well as remixed numbers!" states Poojana. Impressive!

'Chor Sipahi' Running To Full Houses

Sovit Basnet's movie 'Chor Sipahi' is running to full houses in theatres outside the valley. He opines that this is the first time in the history of Nepali Films that a movie is being shown at 20 theatres simultaneously. "Altogether, we released out seven prints and distributed it to various theatres. Besides this, 13 other theatres are showing the movie on LCD projectors. Previously, the trend was to release out just six prints. The reason for going ahead with my idea is because people in general would be able to watch the movie at the same time and financial logistics can be handled much better without waiting for a long time. This is also the beginning of an “all Nepal release concept”, which is going to help the industry in the long run." shares Sovit.

'Chor Sipahi' is made at a budget of 40 lakhs and the actors in this movie are Bhuwan KC, Ramit Dhungana, Bijaya Lama, Nikhil Upreti, Rejina Upreti and Sanchita Luitel. This movie revolves around a deaf, a blind and physically handicapped men, and the way they fool the world. The flick is said to be comedy based and full of action and entertainment.

So far this movie has not hit the theatres in Kathmandu. However, according to Sovit, 'Chor Sipahi' will be released in the valley within two months. He says, "The movie has been really well received, loved and enjoyed by moviegoers. I am sure that viewers from Kathmandu will also like it since this can be categorized as a paisawasul movie." emphasizes Sovit.

'Lal Salaam' The movie

Everyone is aware of the fact that the Maoist have now joined mainstream politics and now they intend to take one step further (at least we would like to believe so) is that they are all geared to make a movie. According to information just received, this flick shall be titled 'Lal Salaam' and will be directed by Shivajee Lamichane.

As stated by the man himself, shuvamuhart of this movie was held today at the Academy Hall, Kamaladi. He elaborates, "This movie revolves around the struggle that the Maoist went through for the past 10 years. There will not be any typical hero as such in it or some melodrama to witness. Since this flick is based on real life tragedies and finally victory, it is going to be very different! The actors in this movie are the ones who had actually participated in real wars that the Maoists had initiated. Former brigade commander and a company commander will be seen in this movie and will portray incidents that occurred during the time of their right to speech." He also states that some of the actors however will be the professional artists. The names of the people who will be in this movie are Rajan Bam, Chhintan from the Maoist front and the professional actors involved are Ganesh Upreti, Sushil Pokharel and Chet Bahadur Singh among others. "Within ten days time, the entire crew of 'Lal Salam' is scheduled to leave for Baglung for the shoot. They will also be going to the Terai region and Jumla," informs Shivajee.

'Lal Salaam' will be presented by All Nepal Janasanskritik Mahasangh and will be produced by Chalchitra Ekai. Information has it that the movie will be released before the promulgation of the Constitutional Assembly. 'Lal Salam' is said to be completed at a whopping budget of one crore Nepali rupees.

Shivajee has so far produced four Kollywood movies. They are 'Kancha', 'Aago', 'Juni Bhari Lai' with the latest being 'Lal Salaam'. This particular movie is going to be his first flick as a director. He is the central member of All Nepal Janasanskritik Mahasangh and is the coordinator of Chalchitra Ekai and also the chairperson of Ganatantrik Chalchitra Karmi Morcha. Here's wishing luck to the 'Lal Salaam' crew!

Maya Meri Maya, once again....

According to yesteryear pop star Sanjay Shrestha, veteran filmmaker Deepak Rayamajhi is all set to make a movie titled 'Maya Meri Maya'. Shedding more light on the matter, he states that the title of this movie has been taken from his song "Maya Meri Maya", which was a very popular song during its time. He says, "This flick is going to be directed and produced by Deepak Rayamajhi. One of the songs in this movie is going to be the same track i.e. "Maya Meri Maya" and the rest of the numbers will be composed by me." "Maya Meri Maya is a song included in the first album of Sanjaya Shrestha -- 'Mode'.

Recently, Sanjay has completed the composition for Raju Shah's movie 'Sapana Ko Naulo Sansar' and for Sovit Basnet's new movie. He mentions that his sixth album 'Timi Bina' under the name of 'Crossroads' will be released sometime during April this year; being released after a gap of five years. His last album was 'Jau Timi Jau'. "I am hopeful that today's youth are going to love the songs on 'Timi Bina' since I have incorporated music that they go for! The delay in the release of 'Timi Bina' is because I was busy with my personal work." shares Sanjay.

Since 1992, Sanjay has been releasing albums with the name of his one time band 'Crossroads'. A decade has already passed by since 'Crossroads' disbanded but Sanjay still prefers to use the name 'Crossroads'. When we asked him the reason for tagging the name Crossroads with his new music, he mentions, "The band members of 'Crossroads' as well as the band introduced me to the Music industry of Nepal. Now, though the band does not exist, I still have the sentiments and the emotional attachment to it. People do recognize me as an individual but I want the 'Crossroads' to be remembered for a long time. There was a time when I had thought of adding new members to the band and hit the road but so far nothing has been worked out!"