Soongava, the first LGBT movie of Nepal

Soongava, Dance of the Orchids, is the first LGBT movie directed by Subarna Thapa. The movie that casts Nisha Adhikari, Diya Maskey and Saugat Malla in lead roles is said to be a romantic movie. The movie depicts transsexual love story of two friends – Diya and Kiran.



In the movie, Diya (Diya Maskey) and Kiran (Nisha Adhikari), belonging to different background, are college friends who eventually fall in love with each other. Diya who belongs to a conservative Newar family is assertive of her sexual preferences whereas Kiran, belonging to a modern family, is very sure of her sexual preference. Diya have been pending her marriage to an arranged suitor resulting in continuous pressure from her family to get married, due to which she finds solace in Kiran’s arm and they eventually become lovers. The real battle begins now when they have to explain their relationship to their shocked family members, more than that to the society who looks them as unnatural, immortal freaks. Will they be successful in their struggle of explaining their relationship to their family members and society? Also, will they be able to live together? These are the questions that arise in the mind of those who have not seen the movie.

Soongava-Nepali-Movie

However, the movie possesses some positive and negative parts. The positive point of the movie is that it has shown the emerging scenario of society by trying to prove that Nepali movie has also been moving towards the modern way of portraying a movie. That means Nepali movie is also making a new ground in case of movie industry. Actor Maskey has done really a great job in her acting, however, Adhikari seems to be little unrealistic in her acting. The film lacks in many strong areas where it could have been made more attractive to the audience. Some sequences in the movie are so drawn out and for no visible, contextual reason, which bores to the extent that you would try to reach for a forward button (if there were any in the theatres). It lacks in presenting the main aspect of the movie which is the chemistry between Diya and Kiran that seems rather unconvincing. Their relationship seems to be driven by lust more than love as the movie has not given them enough time to develop affection and feelings for each other, apart from very few scenes.

Though there are many negative aspects in the movie, it has emerged with a new concept in the Nepali movie industry. Also being the first LGBT movie of Nepal, depicting Nepali lesbian love story, the movie has set new grounds for concept and storyline in the industry. All in all, those who want to watch the new emerging trend in the Nepali movie industry, Soongava is the one to opt for.