KATHMANDU: Popular film program host and journalist Prakash Subedi has been accused of engaging in unethical bargaining practices, promoting films only if paid, and targeting producers and investors with character assassination if they refuse.
The allegation was made publicly on social media by Purnabahadurko Sarangi producer Binod Paudel, whose film holds the record for the highest box office earnings in Nepali cinema.
Paudel claimed that Subedi, through his Rajatpat television program team, inquired via the media coordinator for Paudel’s upcoming film Abhimanyu whether money had been allocated for promotional coverage.
When told there was none, Paudel says he decided not to seek coverage in Rajatpat. However, he alleges that Subedi then retaliated by airing a negative report about him in the following episode.
Paudel further wrote that many producers remain silent in such situations out of fear that Rajatpat will broadcast negative coverage of their films upon release. But, he insisted, he has no such fear.
“I’ve seen the same producers’ money taken, and then those very producers being ridiculed on the program,” Paudel wrote. “Wasn’t Purnabahadurko Sarangi a blockbuster without paying Rajatpat? Does paying Rajatpat guarantee a hit?”
He went on to defend his independent promotional efforts: “I boosted songs, boosted content on social media, and even bought tickets with my own money. Did I commit a crime by doing that? Is it mandatory to market through your program? We make films, we’re not here to manufacture controversy.”
Paudel also alluded to alleged financial irregularities surrounding Purnabahadurko Sarangi, hinting that Subedi likely knows who was involved: “You surely know how that money was mishandled, because those who know who boosted what would know such a small matter too.”
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