Nepali movie makers have started to realize that the movies are not only a medium of entertainment but are also the form of mass media, and a very effective one as well. Realizing this, some movies were made in Nepal that not only targeted on entertaining the crowd but also focused on sending a message to them. Realizing this, Nepali film director and producer Narayan Puri came up with the movie Alpabiram which was based on the subject of the revolutionary movement (Jana Andolan) in Nepal.

This digital movie was focused on delivering the message of need of peace in the country and also tried to show how the war tore the once ‘zone of peace’ country Nepal into a war zone. The movie features some of the popular names like Sunil Pokharel (Nepali theatre guru), Bijay Lama (Pilot and an actor), Ram Chandra Adhikari and Rama Thapaliya. In the movie, the old lady (played by Thapaliya) keeps on reminding the audience and the characters of the movie itself the tragic event that happened in Okhaldhunga, the freedom movement of Nepal in 2046 BS and the effects of the civil war, started by Maoists, on the commoners. The movie has presented the harsh reality of life of the people, especially in the rural areas, affected by the civil war. How the resulted in the destruction of the adult male members of the village families, the fact that many of the young and middle-aged men had to run away to Muglan because of the war, how once a friendly people living like a big family were forced to kill each other are some of the issues that the movie has portrayed effectively through events and scenes in the movie. As the movie had been created in a format of a docu drama, the movie does not have any extra ‘masala’ contents in it for entertainment. Moreover, the shows how the police and army were forced to kill the Maoists, who, once, might have been their friends or brothers, the turmoil that the police personnel’s family goes through when their son/husband/father/brother are out on the war zone, the tragedy suffered by the families of those innocent people who were used as scapegoats and also the irony that the police and the Maoist had to take shelter in the same house.

Director Narayan Puri had tried to touch a very sensitive subject and has, up to certain level, been able to do it successfully. Also, the act of the police officer played by Bijay Lama is good and the lead characters Rama Thapaliya and Sunil Pokharel’s work is appreciable. Although the background score by Jems Pradhan might seem too loud sometimes, the songs by musician Premraja Mahat is relevant to the movie. Overall, one of the most effective Nepali movies of all times, Alpabiram is worth a watch.