Samjhana

Samjhana, meaning "Memories", is a landmark of Nepali cinema. Released on 19 February 1983, the film was directed, produced and edited by Shambhu Khan and was presented by the Ishwori Films banner. The film stars Bhuwan K.C. and Tripti Nadakar, the couple known as the first golden on-screen pair of Nepali cinema. With a runtime of 106 minutes, the story revolves around the lives of Nepali people living in the tea gardens of Darjeeling, India, and a great part of the film was shot at the Samsing tea gardens in West Bengal.

The story is a love story that spans two generations. In a remarkable casting decision, Tripti Nadakar plays both the wife and the daughter of Bhuwan K.C.'s character, allowing the film to move between the present and the memory of the earlier romance. In one of the famous openings, the father shares with his daughter the story of her mother through its songs, giving the film the melancholy for which it is remembered today. The film is not only remembered for its music and memory-stained narration, but also as the grand debut of Tripti Nadakar.

The music by Ranjit Gazmer, with lyrics by Kusum Gazmer, became legendary. The songs were sung by Udit Narayan Jha — in one of his earliest film recordings — along with Asha Bhosle, Deepa Jha, Bharati Ghime, and Kiran Pradran, which is bizarre in the trio of Indian and Nepali singer royalties. Binod Pradhan, who later became a leading Bollywood cinematographer, shot the film.

Samjhana was one of the biggest hits of the early 1980s and is considered one of the most important films in the history of the Nepali film industry. It defined the love story into the decades that followed, and it is now one of the few true classical confess movies of its time available to watch for free on YouTube, where it was revived under the labels of "superhit old court".