Nepali cinema continues to be a slowly emerging corner for me in this kind of coverage. The content makes it all the more exciting as well considering the titles we’ve covered from the region already, and Sudarshan Thapa’s crime thriller, Rawayan, is no different.
The first official teaser arose a couple of weeks ago, and now an official trailer is out. Information about this film was all but scant until recently now that several Nepalese cinema websites are logging the film’s September 6 release date into their databases, along with an explanation about the film which you can below.
The universally acknowledged narrative is commonly referred to as the Ramayan, viewed predominantly from the perspective of Ram. However, an alternate rendition emerges when the same tale is recounted through the lens of Rawan, labeled as RAWAYAN, exercising creative license in the cinematic realm by emphasizing the narrative from the vantage point of the antagonistic character. RAWAYAN is a film that delves into the criminal narrative, showcasing their dominance, set against the backdrop of the Terai region, a border area between Nepal and India.
I tried scanning a little bit on some forums about the film from the perspectives of fans and it’s definitely stirred the watercooler talk. It was also quite the adventure going down the rabbit hole here as I tried to learn more about the film and its cast, which includes lead actor Paul Shah and Daanvi star, producer, Hindi actress and co-lead Pooja Sharma in starring roles.
What’s more is action sequences come courtesy of Shree Shrestha whose work can already be seen in a number of Nepali titles, especially Daanvi, and in Saurav Chaudhary’s The Unbreakable Agatsya which opened stateside in select theaters earlier this year.
And boy oh boy did the teaser from earlier this month catch my eye. A minute and twenty seconds of searing, red bandy violence and spectacle amid the action which says everything you need to know about how high Nepal cinema aims in its trade here. The official trailer for Rawayan definitely tells a little more in its visuals with some storied coherence to boot, and you can check both of those assets out in the following players. Just mind your peripherals and your viewing environment for all the red-bandy stuff.
