Daughter Of Nepal

Daughter of Nepal is a labour of love that took almost nine years to complete. We started filming around two years after Manushi AKA Asmita's return to Nepal. It was challenging to shoot with a friend who was shying away from the camera most of the time. We devised a style of shooting wherein I was always closer to the subject than the camera. This was why I had to include myself as a character in the film, and also how we managed to document subtle, heartwarming moments.

Nepal was in turmoil at the time (Aug 2009). There were daily protests on the streets. It was also the onset of monsoons and Asmita had a very busy schedule as she had recently become the first female General Secretary of the Students' Union at Tribhuvan University. We would follow her around, trying to sneak in interviews with her at various locations. Her father was not the Prime Minister yet, but both her parents were very busy and we were lucky to get some time with them as well.

We shot all across Kathmandu, and also visited Asmita's father's village in Gorkha. The idea was to see Nepal through her eyes, and capture it at a time of transition. Though the film is being released after nine years, there is an unfortunate continuance of instability in Nepal that we had witnessed in 2009. This helps us see the bigger picture and understand the enormity of the task of nation-building that lies in front of Asmita and others like her.

The hope with the film is that Asmita's distinct character, her unusual formative years, and her closeness with her parents and her country, is able to come across.