Surya Kiran

Surya Kiran is a 2019 Nepali social and romantic drama film directed by the debutant filmmaker Amir Dong and produced by Amrit Chepang. The film was released in theaters on 13 December 2019. The film stars Manju Shrestha and Sabin Shrestha in the lead roles, with the actors from the indigenous communities of Nepal in the cast, including Melina Chepang, Kusang Rumba, Ranjit Tamang, Norsang Dong, Bhushan Lama, Debendra Lopchan, Raj Gole and Sanjay Hatta. The title of the film, 'Surya Kiran', means 'Sun Ray', and the film is deeply rooted in the culture, traditions and social life of the Chepang community of the hills of central Nepal.

The film tells a romantic social story set in the villages of the hills, where the Chepang community lives in the districts of the region. The story of the film revolves around the daily life of the villagers, their families, their love and the issues of their lives, and it presents the human relations of the community with the natural and simple style of the region. Love is at the center of the story, as the title of the film suggests the warmth and light of the sun that enters the life of the characters, and the drama unfolds in the beautiful valleys and rivers of the region.

The film was made by a team of artists who come from the Chepang community itself, and it was one of the few films of that era that was made about, by and with the indigenous people of Nepal. The music of the film, based on the traditional tunes of the community, is one of the highlights of the film, and its release was reported as a milestone because it brought the story and style of an ethnic group that is rarely represented in the Nepali cinema to the halls of Kathmandu and other cities of the country.

Surya and her film are an honest and dedicated representation of the life of the indigenous and marginalized communities of Nepal, and it stands as an important example of the regional cinema of the country, which tells the stories of the village and the ethnic minorities of the country with pride, directly from the communities.