After 20 years on the silver screen, actor Jharana Thapa has taken up the challenge to put on the director’s hat to present the audience ‘A Mero Hajur 2’, a sequel to ‘A Mero Hajur’, which created some buzz when it was released 15 years ago.
However, the only thing that is common between the two movies is that both are ‘love stories’. Debutante actor Salin Man Bania is the male protagonist and Samragyee RL Shah the female lead of the movie. Supporting Bania are the ‘two pillars’ Salon Basnet and Swatantra Pratap Shah, who have pivotal roles in the movie.
It also features well-known faces such as Wilson Bikram Rai and Budhhi Tamang in cameos as they bring humour to the movie as a full-time drunkard and part-time artist, and a die-hard fan of the late actor, Sri Krishna Shrestha (the protagonist of the prequel) respectively.
The movie turns back the clock as Bania aka Prem recounts his childhood love story to his best friends atop a terrace at Pashupatinath. His friends listen to him intently as he chronicles his love for Shah aka Maya. He is apparently fond of his ‘hajur’ (that’s how he addresses the girl ) and dotes on her with various nickknacks.
The movie keeps the audience laughing as we relate to the foolish things we have had done to gain the attention of our crushes in school. As the story unfolds, we are taken on a train ride back to good old schooldays and a multitude of wavelets of nostalgia wash over us.
Both the kids are enrolled in the same school and ride the same bus. Sooner than expected, due to unforeseen circumstances, the convivial friendship between the two kids is distorted and then the movie returns to the present.
The two friends then hit the road to Pokhara in the hope that Prem can win back Maya so as to fulfill the promise he had made to her years ago. En route, they help an NRN (played by Amber Subedi) and there is a twist to the plot.
The screenplay tries to incorporate clichéd dialogues along with a clever mix of typical Nepali retorts that appeal to the general mass. The director has also compiled panoramic views of Pokahara, Manang and Tilicho and shot a bird’s eye view from almost all corners of the rocky terrain. It is all fun and games until the first half. However, the second half has been dragged too long, with the resolution taking a lot more time than it should ideally have.
All in all, ‘A Mero Hajur 2’ is a kaleidoscope of humour, satire, emotions nostalgia and not so typical drama. The debutante director chooses to culminate the movie where it began, making use of the ‘airport scene’ stale Indian melodramas are fond of using.
The movie, however, refrains from throwing in random songs into the plot and so it has only a few dance numbers. My personal favorite was the title song which apparently, the audience would also hum to.
In a nutshell, the movie is worth a watch.
Director: – Jharana Thapa
Actors: – Salin Man Bania
Samragyee RL Shah
Release Date: – September 1, 2017
Screenings:- QFX Cinemas
