Jhyanakuti movie review: A film that tries too hard | The Annapurna Express (original) (raw)

If you are planning on scrolling through YouTube this week, please do not miss the trailer of “Kathaputali” starring Karma, Mithila Sharma, Gauri Malla and Usha Rajak. This upcoming Nepali horror movie looks promising and if the trailer’s anything to go by, it could be one of those groundbreaking Nepali films. The acting, cinematography, editing and direction look top notch. I sincerely hope the movie lives up to the expectation created by this well-cut trailer.

Now back to the agenda for this week, I tried my best to find another enjoyable Nepali movie on YouTube—something I hadn’t watched and would like to recommend. But this process is getting a little boring. Finding a good Nepali film to watch on YouTube every week does not seem as easy as it sounds. Same for Bollywood and Hollywood ones. The argument being that YouTube is not a very good platform for movie-viewing. Unlike other OTTs, it’s not curated properly for movies.

But I did manage to watch a Nepali movie on YouTube—the 2017 flick “Jhyanakuti” starring Saugat Malla and Benisha Hamal. The popular Nepali video effects expert and film editor-turned-director Simosh Sunuwar directs this comedy drama that revolves around the unhappy married life of a low income, rural Nepali couple.

The film starts with a song where Buddhe (Saugat Malla) dances happily with his wife Malati (Benisha Hamal). But the first few scenes tell the audience they are not close to the perfect couple their song-and-dance sequence projects them to be. In fact, they can’t seem to stand each other and even resort to physical violence.

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Buddhe is a drunkard who can go to extreme lengths, like stealing from his own house, to quench his thirst. Malati, a nursing mother to a newborn, has had enough of Buddhe’s behavior and wants to leave him. One day, she does. Malati disappears from the village, leaving their infant son in the care of Buddhe—who lacks emotional as well as economic independence. Buddhe spends the rest of the movie trying to find Malati while taking care of his son and also battling his demons—which attack him from within and without.

Jhyanakuti is a film that tries to show the evils present in the Nepali society—mainly alcoholism, voluntary unemployment, casteism and domestic violence. But with poor writing and direction, it fails to make the intended impact. For someone who grew up in the 90s, all these issues have been repeatedly raised by comedy shows like “Hijo Aajako Kura” and the numerous ‘MaHa Jodi’ productions.

Why would filmmakers want to try something similar in 2017 is the big question. Even if they felt the issues have been underrepresented in the media, their idea of representation does not fare well either. We all know alcoholism and casteism are problems in rural Nepal. So what are you trying to prove? And why are you romanticizing and normalizing domestic violence?

The film’s writing and direction take the focus away from the acting of Buddhe and Malati, the two main characters. The actors playing these lead roles—Malla and Hamal—have put in enormous energy but the writing fails to give meaning to the lives of their characters. Also, none of the supporting characters makes an impact for the sole reason that the writing has no depth. Can’t imagine how the filmmakers stretched the movie to way above two hours with such flimsy writing.

Who should watch it?

Solely as a film, Jhyanakuti is bearable enough till the end, the actors being the main reason. I personally felt the subjects it deals with were dealt a little too frivolously but I also know there are audiences who do not mind a superficial plot so long it entertains them. So I recommend you do a “trial and error” with Jhyanakuti. If you like its first 20 mins, you’ll enjoy the rest.

Jhyanakuti

Rating: 2 stars

Genre: Drama, comedy
Run time: 2hrs 21mins
Actors: Saugat Malla, Benisha Hamal
Director: Simos Sunuwar