Highway to Dhumpus: A Nepal love story

Kathmandu: When he visited Nepal in 2010, he “fell in love with the people, culture, and beauty of Nepal”. He had an outline of a story that he wanted to tell, but it wasn’t until he visited Nepal that he knew in what context he wanted to tell it in or in what sett
ing. So, Nepal not only became the setting for that story, but a character too. Thus, Highway to Dhampus was born.

“I wrote the film not only to represent my experiences, but as an homage to a country and people that I had fallen in love with,” Rick McFarland wrote in an email interview to The Himalayan Times. He is the director of the film that stars Hollywood and Nepali actors — Rachel Hurd-Wood, Raj Ballav Koirala, Suesha Rana, Gunner Wright and Desh Bhakta Khanal. Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Annapurna mountains, the film is about “learning to live well, to love, to give… to change”.

Two worlds collide when spoiled British heiress Elizabeth James visits Nepal in an attempt to fix her image through charitable acts and meets Laxmi, who is the headmistress of a small orphanage. And then there is pilot Ajit Thapa and American photojournalist Colt Morgan who discover that they too have reasons to change …

The film is releasing on September 25 in Nepal. McFarland says that the themes and characters in his debut film are all based on “experiences and thematic elements that have been important” to him trying to show “the beauty, love, life and change”.

“I got my pilot’s licence when I was 17. My identity was kind of wrapped up in being a pilot. I got to fly among the beautiful Rocky Mountains. The character of Ajit definitely represents that. Prabhujee, the playful and endearing boy, represents my mother. All of the characters represent some aspect of my life — learning to give and to love and to feel, but Laxmi represents a benevolence and a purity that I really admire and identify with in people. It is rare. When I first visited Nepal, I saw that and knew that I wanted to write Laxmi to not only represent that richness of spirit (Goddess of Wealth), but really to represent Nepal. She is the centre of the story.”

McFarland has worked as a commercial director for many years — he has produced a number of films and documentaries and has been involved in editing and script writing as well. But “this film is more important to me because of what it represents, rather than simply being my narrative debut”.

In this venture, McFarland has brought two worlds of actors — Hollywood and Nepal. Of this and his experience working with them, he shares, “The actors were amazing. I am so lucky to have found each one of them. It felt like karma to find them — Raj, Rachel, Suesha, Desh, Gunner — they all are dear friends too now. I thought I was really going to have to work to get the performance I wanted out of Nepali actors, but I was so wrong. They all brought an incredibly natural and heart-felt performance to the table.”

The director, who prefers narrative films, has a degree in music (Brigham Young University) and he feels it doesn’t seem very far from directing because “I consider directing to be a very musical thing”. His did sound recording through his college and then started producing recordings which led to producing films and which brought him to directing. He’s always been a photographer.

Highway to Dhampus is the first independent feature film shot almost entirely in Nepal by a foreign director and crew.

And shooting in Nepal was challenging as well as the most rewarding thing that McFarland has done so far. “I fell more in love with Nepal with each visit, and hardly a day goes by without missing some aspect of it. Right now I’m craving for daal bhaat,” he writes.

The film has been screened in several film festivals around the world. It bagged the 2014 Heartland Film Festival Best Premiere Award Winner, Narrative Feature and it also won the Best Feature Film and Best Lead Actress at the Madrid International Film Festival, among others.

With Highway to Dhampus is getting its Nepal release, the director shares Nepali people who have attended the film festivals and screenings have loved it and there are more reasons for Nepalis here to like the film.

“It is always interesting to see your own culture portrayed through someone else’s eyes. Since Nepal is such a great character in the film, I would think it would be a rewarding thing on that level alone. But I believe that at the heart of this film are themes and values that I share with the Nepali culture. I was so shocked to find that there were so many similarities to my own world. I feel the story circles around themes that resonate with the Nepali people — spirituality, love, compassion, goodness, change, tragedy and hope.”

There is more to it. “I think the love for the country and people really comes through and I’ve had very warm responses so far. I pray that Nepal will embrace it for what it was intended to be. I have had a few people ask about the colour treatment. I used a very warm, somewhat desaturated look that was important for the melancholy feel of the film. For western audiences, it is a device that speaks well. It is not a standard colour treatment for Bollywood films, which are often very dynamic and colourful. I hope Nepali viewers understand and ‘feel’ the colour treatment as a portrayal of connection, of love of country and of people and also as a storytelling device.”

Forty per cent of the profit from Nepal screening of Highway to Dhampus will go towards the relief of people affected by the April 25 earthquake and other social activities through an NGO called Mind The Gap Worldwide.

(News Source: The Himalayan Times)