Rajesh Hamal at Chowrastha in Darjeeling. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, Dec. 27: Stiff competition from Bollywood, lack of technical expertise and a slew of shortcomings have not stopped the Nepali film industry from carving a niche for itself in the Himalayan kingdom.

Kollywood (as Nepal?s film industry is popularly known) Studios, mostly located on the fringes of Kathmandu?s upmarket New Baneswor locality, used to churn out around 40 full-length Nepali feature films before the Maoist insurgency brought it down to about 15 a year.

Rajesh Hamal, one of the biggest stars in Nepal and reportedly the highest paid actor in the country, admitted that insurgency had struck a severe blow to the film industry.

?The Maoist insurgency has compounded our problems. Many cinema halls in Kathmandu are now closing down,? said Hamal, who was in Darjeeling today on a promotional tour.

Despite the popularity of Bollywood films in the country, Kollywood has been able to produce a number of highly successful stars.

Actors like Bhuvan KC, Karishma Manandhar, Srikrishna Sreshtha and Darjeeling girl Neeruta Singh, are now household names in the kingdom.

Hamal said the Nepali film industry had received a shot-in-the-arm with the advent of democracy in the early nineties. Production houses had grown in strength and stars had begun to command good fees.

?Things have improved for the actors and professionals can now survive,? said Hamal.

A star in the Nepal?s film industry, can now command a fairly good fee but it is still considered peanuts compared to the fees Bollywood actors charge.

This forward march, however, has halted as the Maoist movement has made film shoots extremely difficult.

?I wanted to do a film based in Darjeeling and to be shot exclusively in the hills, but we are finding it extremely difficult to come over with all the equipment in the current situation prevailing in Nepal,? said Hamal.

The actor, who has played lead roles in hits like Upakhar and Aashirabad, has a good fan following in the hills. He will travel to Gangtok, Kalimpong and Mirik during his current tour.

He has also featured in the film Bhul, which was shot in Mirik.Nepal?s tryst with filmmaking began with the movie Satya Harischandra, which was directed by D.B. Pariyar and released in 1951. It was produced in India.

Hira Singh Khatri, a Bollywood filmmaker released Aama, the first film made in Nepal, in 1964. However, Kollywood really came into its own in the late eighties and early nineties when the industry took a more organised shape.