Maun

Maun is a 2013 Nepali love story directed by Suraj Bhusal and produced by Navin Gauli and Suraj Bhusal under the banners of Quark Film and Akash Aditya Entertainment. The film, which carries the English title Maun: A Loud Silence, was released in theaters across Nepal on September 27, 2013. It stars Arpan Thapa as Aman and Namrata Shrestha as Barsha in the lead roles, with Bijay Baral, Aruna Karki Pokharel, Shekhar Chapagain, Durga Baraili and Rashmi Bhatta in supporting roles.

The movie depicts the love story of two young people who are both deaf and mute, and who therefore communicate through sign language. Aman and Barsha fall in love in Kathmandu while Aman battles a dark past and seeks revenge on the man who caused his trauma. The film explores how people who cannot speak still experience the full range of human emotions, carrying the message that a person who cannot speak still feels everything deeply.

The screenplay was written by Arpan Thapa, who also played the male lead. To prepare for their roles, both Arpan Thapa and Namrata Shrestha underwent three months of sign language training with a teacher at the School for Deaf and Mute in Naxal, Kathmandu. They even brought the teacher along during the shoot to ensure their signing was accurate. The actors recalled that expressing feelings without uttering a single word was one of the most challenging aspects of the film.

The cinematography of Maun was handled by Sanjay Lama, while the music was composed by Sugam Pokhrel and Swopnil Sharma. The film's trailers generated considerable attention on YouTube before its release, with much discussion about the unusual concept of a romance built entirely around sign language. Namrata Shrestha's return to consistent film work after a long break also drew interest, as her previous release Chadke had come out in February 2013.

Maun stands out as a sincere attempt in Nepali cinema to portray characters with disabilities in a respectful and emotionally rich way. The performances of the two leads, and the film's gentle handling of the hearing-impaired community, made it a memorable and different kind of movie in the Nepali film landscape of 2013.