Movies Move Mind

A few weeks ago, I watched a Bhutanese movie called ‘Acho Kelden' in Darla hall.  The movie is about general family issues. A couple gets divorced and leaves their children in a village, and one of the reasons seems to be the lust for the dollar, as Bhutanese always are. The story narrates about an infant's survival with the help of animals. Overall, the story is quite unique compared to other Bhutanese movies. But the sad thing about ‘Acho Kelden’ was the number of audiences turned up. I looked around and counted only 16 heads sitting on the ramshackle benches. The hall was like a ruined house- a ghastly one. There were few broken benches, dusty and grimy; it was all in horrible condition. Some of them sat on the cement floor in the chilling cold weather.

After watching ‘Acho Kelden’ and the condition of the hall, scores of questions came to my mind like,Why do most Bhutanese movies run in lost? Why is Bhutan not successful with our movies? Why are Bhutanese not skilled with better movies production? What is lacking in our entertainment?

Bhutan has a rich, different, and diverse history. We have so many untold stories. Our people are rich, each one of us has many things to share. Every stone, every tree, every valley, every hill, every mountain, every village has a story to tell. There are Galem and Singye in every hamlet, there is Amrish Puri, Phurba Thinley in every hamlet, there are unsung heroes. We are not short of a story. But we are short of audience.

I think we are not devoid of the market or audience and people who like to watch, but we are devoid of the good places to be screened. Back in my village in Pemagatshel, villagers are hungry for Bhutanese movies. I assured that this ‘Acho Kelden’ with the same amount of Nu. 50 would draw together more than a hundred watchers.

It is said that our culture and traditions get weaken slowly  because of media; entertainment medium like TV, live shows, films, talks, etc. These media have a great impact on our society, not only the social change in their ways of thinking, but they also change lifestyle. Therefore, we must choose movies to be watched. And for that reason, BIMCA censors movies. On the other hand, entertainment mediums are preservers and custodians of one's culture, traditions, and customs. Movies and documentaries are great sources of knowledge; not only do some of us imitate the best doers, but also believe at times. Therefore, in order to reach Bhutanese movies for our hungry audience, we must have good distribution in place and good entertainment places especially halls or theaters. Good buildings with good stages, good sound systems, etc.  It would also serve as a meeting place for local people. Local people, because the good halls should be actually in every Gewog or if possible in every Chiwog.

In this way we can promote our own films/Drukpawood, and promote our own shows, etc, educating our own type of traditions. Not only that, we would be creating so many jobs opportunities in this industry. And at the same time generate lots of money. We would have fewer drugs users and crimes as a whole because it helps to engage them and give them a second thought.

Our neighbor, India has a very strong and prosperous film industry because almost all - little towns have very good theaters.

Bhutan has not many good theaters; we have in Thimphu, Phuntsholing, Samdrup Jongkha and Gelephug. But these theaters are not really theaters, they are simple halls.  All these halls lack good sound system, the technicalities of sound and such. And the size and cleanliness of halls could put them in grade-G.

I have been thinking about our live shows, singing contests like Druk Super Star, Bhutan Star, Talent Hunt, etc.  The reality shows have been simple but simply have no quality compared to many shows. The low quality of filming, the low quality of sound, the low presentation of participants, and the drab background make the shows not that presentable for National Television.

I hope our government will look upon this matter and come up with good theaters. I am ready to contribute a small amount to build good theaters in our country.

And I hope live shows will improve the quality of broadcasting and I also hope the industry comes up with different types of shows, like drama, skit, comedy show, etc.  Singing contests like Druk Star, Talent Hunt is a good way of making money (unethical money!!!) without quality presentations and participants/singers.