Once saw the script for in 2017, he did not want to lose the opportunity to work with the project's award-winning Australian director Serhat Caradee.
“The story and screenplay were really good and with Serhat as its director and Liz Burton as producer, I was really keen to be involved in this movie,” Nepal-born Bista tells SBS Nepali.
He soon joined the team as the film’s Executive Producer.
It wasn’t just the diverse cast and crew that excited him. The political and social issues raised by the film through Jamal Alamein, a fictional character who joins IS in Syria, also added to his enthusiasm.
Apil Bista isn't new to making films about sensitive topics but his experiences with such filmmaking in Nepal, where films are assessed and cenored much more stringently than in Australia, thanks to the Australian film classification system.
Apil Bista (left) with the director Serhat Caradee (right) of A Lion Returns Source: Supplied
“I did not have to worry at all about censors in Australia, the classification systems of films are very good here,” he says.
, promoting, inciting or instructing in matter of crime or violence or advocating terrorist act is one of few different principles that may result in classification refusal.
“I can’t even think about making films like A Lion Returns in Nepal, due to the lack of political freedom and freedom of speech. Everything there is politically driven and is viewed through that lens.”
A still from the movie 'A Lion Returns' Source: Supplied
Bista’s censored Nepali film
Bista, who divides his time between Nepal and Sydney, has had numerous firsthand experiences of having his films censored or even blocked from being produced by regulatory authorities in his birth country.
His 2010 film Dasdhunga, based on a road accident that saw the deaths of two Communist party leaders in Nepal in 1993, had about 15 minutes of the movie censored by authorities before it was allowed for public release.
On May 16 of 2003, Madan Bhandari, the then General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist and Leninist) and Jeevraj Ashrit, a standing committee member, died after a four-wheel drive they were travelling in veered off the mountainous road and fell into a river.
Their death caused widespread protests across the country, with many supporters believing Bhandari and Ashrit were killed for political reasons.
A government led investigation commission concluded that the deaths were caused by the “”. However, KP Sharma Oli, who is now the Prime Minister of Nepal, conducted a separate investigation for his party CPN- UML and raised the possibility of political killings.
1991 photo of the then Communist Party of Nepal General Secretary Madan Bhandari (L), veeing fingers, on stump, framed by CPM UML red flags, candidate in first Source: Robert Nickelsberg/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images
This conspiracy was further heightened after the only survivor of the incident, the driver of the car, was fatally shot a decade later.
The film produced by Apil Bista explores the death of the politicians and driver through a fictional character who faces his own demons while investigating the incident.
“Our film was based on the news reports surrounding the incident, and through the movie we tried posing the question whether the communist leaders were deliberately killed,” says Bista.
However, officials at the Nepal government run Film Development Board felt the film could cause protests and give people “false impressions and have negative consequence”.
“They didn’t allow us to use names of other countries like India or the US or we couldn’t name people that would connect them to the fatal crash seventeen years later,” he says.
Bista and his team were disappointed with demands made by the authorities to censor large parts of their film but say they had no choice and complied. But they did receive great feedback from audiences and started a debate on the issue itself.
Still from Dasdhunga movie Source: Dasdhunga
A sequel blocked by regulators
Bista and his team had hoped to start filming a sequel to Dasdhunga, but with mandatory requirements for filmmakers to submit their ideas to authorities before starting any production work, the sequel has been blocked.
“The film board didn’t even let us register the film, which gives us the permit to start filming and prevents us from being able to pay the cast and crew,” says Bista.
With some big names in acting lined up for the second part, a lot of money had already been spent too.
The current President of Nepal, Bidhya Devi Bhandari is the widow of Madan Bhandari. With the President and the Prime Minister both seeing the death as still unresolved, Bista thinks authorities are concerned about upsetting two of the most senior leaders of the country.
“This is despite the Communist party leaders repeatedly saying they will investigate the death of Madan Bhandari and Jeevraj Ashrit.
Nepal's first elected female president Bidhya Bhandari (C) President Ram Baran Yadav (L) Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli (R) in Kathmandu, Nepal, 29 October 2015. Source: AAP/EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA
Censorship not limited to films
Apil Bista isn’t the only one who has faced problems with authorities while making films. In 2018, a film producer . The piles of fake notes were seized by the Police from the production company belonging to a renowned producer.
The production company says the fake bank notes were used in various films.
In October 2019 a popular rapper known by the name of VTEN was arrested by police for allegedly spreading “vulgarity in society” through his music.
The rapper whose real name is Samir Ghising was forced to remove his “offending” song from social media platforms and was released from arrest after promising to “not repeat the offence”.
Last month, VTEN’s new song which translates as “style” also caused Nepal Police headquarters to issue letter for his arrest. In his new video the rapper had allegedly used “derogatory” words towards police and women.
Nepali rapper Samir Ghising aka VTEN Source: VTEN Facebook
VTEN, who also has large number of fans in Australia, publicly apologised for the video and recently released a new video with some of the words edited out.
Activists say authorities are clamping down on freedom of speech by targeting musicians, actors, filmmakers and artists.
Meanwhile, Apil Bista is currently working on a movie about Nepali students in Australia and he hopes to start filming the second instalment of Dasdhunga in the new year but still doesn’t have government approval yet.
