Celebrated Nepalese Actor Rajesh Hamal joined the 17 the edition of Voices. Organized by Indian Embassy and B.P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation. Actor Hamal shared his journey to stardom in the Nepali film fraternity.

“Born in a more conventional family, as a child I had very little choices to make. It was never what I wanted to do; it was always about what I was expected to do. My father was a bureaucrat of Nepal. Therefore most of my childhood went on traveling from one country to the other with my father,” the superstar shared in reminiscence of his childhood.

Hamal who graduated from India, started off his career as a model for a fashion magazine in India. He added, “My father was once posted in Moscow and it was during the time, I grew my deep inclination towards art, culture and religion. In a conventional Nepali family, where the son was expected to become doctor, pilot or engineer, it was almost impossible to share this to my parents that I wanted to join the league of art. I had nobody to speak to, nobody to express, no mediums to emote. I chose films not to become an actor but as a medium to emote emotions not just to a handful people but to people en masse.” Hamal elaborated how the road to the silver screen of Nepal was definitely not a smooth ride for him, how he had never hoped to one day work as an actor in Nepal, where an industry was still a myth and the choice of the profession itself was “a precarious thing”. He elaborated, “When a film crew for the first time came to me with an offer to work in a film, I happily accepted. What came as an explosion was I was thrown out of the film after shooting for only ten days.

This was a big put off to my career. Naturally, my father felt victorious of my defeat but he was more than serious when he told me to take a decision on my career. I asked him to grant me three years of time to prove myself. He did accept my request but at the cost that I had to henceforth take care of myself. This was the beginning of my career in real.” Hamal shared how the commercial success of his first film Yug Dekhi Yug Samma, released in 1988 gave him further hopes to work in Nepali cinema and helped him stand against the conventional odds of the society, he always protested silently. “25 years ago, it used to take three years to release one Nepali film. But with me, even before my first film was in theater,

I was already involved in my third film. By then, I was sure that I do not have to rely on plan B of my career and I am fortunate to transform my passion into my profession. There came a time when I did 22 films in a year alone,” said Hamal.

According to a press release of Indian Embassy, Hamal at the end of his talk interacted with the audience and shared how each of them should always have their plan B for their career but should leave no stone unturned to make plan a successful.

“If you are walking a completely new trail, then there are two possibilities. One, you may get lost and have to think about the new journey or people will follow your footsteps. I don’t know if I have become successful or not for success is a very relative term. But I am happy that I gave my passion a chance to grow. The biggest achievement as an actor to me is those times, when street children, beggars, potters and people across Nepal relate to me with their own stories. I am lucky to have lived their lives through my films; emote their stories through my characters,” he concluded. 

Diplomat and Poet Abhay Kumar, FS(PIC) & Secretary BPKF, thanked actor Hamal for sharing his experiences.