Kathmandu

Friends and the fun-filled activities make it easier to live in a hostel despite the strict rules and regulations. Anger, competition, fights and mischief are also part of hostel life. And the new Nepali movie Hostel Returns attempts to bring forth similar memories of hostel life while depicting the stories of teenagers, thus catering to the interest of the youngsters.

Kumar (Abhay Baral), Samir (Sushil Sitaula), Rameshwor (Najir Hussain) and Pratap (Sushil Shrestha) are among the new batch of students in Kailash Nath Institute of Technology. These four engineering students befriend each other as they start living in the hostel.

Handsome Pratap, son of a rich father, hates Rameshwor for his looks and for being a villager. But a serious student, Rameshwor tops the college and in the meantime falls in love with Seema (Shashi Shrestha). And Pratap also likes Seema. Similar is the case of Kumar and Samir — both of them fall for the same girl Alina (Swastima Khadka). Along with romance, the clash between seniors and juniors is presented convincingly. The scenes showcasing the ragging and bullying of juniors are humorous. Fight in the dining hall is fun to watch.

Debutant actor Sushil Shrestha is handsome — justified in role of a guy able to win a girl’s heart with his looks. His convincing acting is the icing on the cake.

Hussain truly represents a Madhesi student — through apt dialogues along with costume as well as his amulet and tika. Hussain’s dance elevates the fun quotient — it gives you a good laugh. And the transformation of his hair style in the later part of the movie is fun to watch. Baral and Sitaula are also there to make you laugh with their humorous performances.

Thematic songs Engineer and Musukka Hasne Timro Banile are well-placed.

As for the movie’s shortcomings, the female characters have very short roles. The writer could have given them more space. Even the life of senior engineering students could have been narrated well.

The movie at times reminds you of Bollywood films 3 Idiots and Dil Chahta Hai for hostel life and friendship respectively. Alina spitting on Samir’s face reminds one of a similar scene of Hulchul — though paan in Hulchul is replaced by toothpaste here.

Similarly hostel warden Sunil Rawal resembles Boman Irani of 3 Idiots for his special trait of making the students follow rules.

Despite a few glitches in narration, the films doesn’t bore the audience. The movie indeed evokes nostalgic memories of your hostel and college life.

Hostel Returns

Genre: Romance

Director: Suraj Bhusal

Cast: Sushil Shrestha, Shashi Shrestha, Najir

Hussain, Sushil Sitaula, Abhay Baral, Swastima Khadka, Pradip Kumar Chaudhary, Sudam CK

Being screened at QFX Cinemas