Fight master Bhutani no more

Himalayan News Service

His wish to get a Nepali citizenship dies with him

KATHMANDU: Fight master ‘ Gopal Bhutani lost the battle of his life to cancer and breathed his last on November 23. The 78-year-old legendary figure was pronounced dead at around 11:00 am while undergoing treatment for lung cancer at the Janamaitri Hospital, Balaju.

Bhutani is considered as the pioneer of the action genre in the Nepali cine world. He is credited with introducing action into Nepali cinema and also trained many actors and other action directors under him.

He started his career with movie Maan ko Baandh in 1975, where he had played the role of a postman. But he debuted as action director in the film Jeevan Rekha in 1978.

His last rites were performed at Swoyambhu according to Buddhist rites, where prominent figures of the Nepali film industry has turned up to pay their last respects. Bhutani’s student and popular action director Rajendra Khadgi performed the guru’s last rites. Bhutani, who did not have any relatives, was very close to Khadgi, and used to call him his “son”.

“He was an angel sent by the God to uplift and give a new dimension to the Nepali film industry. He has returned after completing his responsibility here,” stated Khadgi who likes to call Bhutani “his godfather”.

“Had Gopal Bhutani not entered the Nepali film industry, there would not be Rajendra Khadgi. Almost all the action directors of Nepali film were his students,” Khadgi added.

“Before Gopal dai, there was no concept of action direction in Nepali films. He pioneered the concept of art direction as well,” said actor-director Yubaraj Lama, who has worked with Bhutani in movies like Deuta, Dui Thopa Aanshu and Chino.

“One of the greatest art and action directors of the time, Gopal dai was hardworking and honest,” said director Ashoka Sharma.

Despite his age, he was energetic and worked in films, advertisements and tele-films. “But in his last days he must have felt death approaching nearer. He would keep telling me ‘I will die’,” revealed Khadgi, who had been constantly at Bhutani’s side even at the hospital.

But despite his priceless contribution of converting Nepali films into a film industry through innovation of the concept of art and action, his wish to get a Nepali citizenship remained unfulfilled. “We could not convince our government that he was a Nepali,” Khadgi stated.

Bhutani, born to a Tamang family in Illam was deprived of a Nepali citizenship as he did not have enough documents to prove that he was a Nepali citizen. “Despite such an attitude of the government towards him, his contribution to Nepali film industry is invaluable and will be written in the pages of history,” added Khadgi.