KATHMANDU: Since its release a month ago “Aawaaz” or “Voice” in Nepali has packed cinemas and won praise, including from the former Maoist rebel fighters it depicts.

“There were so many parts of the film that I could relate to, and some very emotional moments,” said Ananta, who was a deputy commander of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army in Nepal.

“The film shows the problems we faced, the torture we endured and reminded us of the friends we lost,” said Ananta, a veteran of some of the bloodiest battles in the decade-long war launched by the rebels in west Nepal in 1996.

The conflict killed at least 13,000 people in the Himalayan nation, and displaced tens of thousands.

The Maoists launched their “people’s war” in 1996 and as the conflict escalated in 2001 the Royal Nepal Army was mobilised by the government to tackle a series of increasingly successful raids by the rebels against police posts and government offices.

The conflict in one of the 10 poorest countries in the world included child soldiers recruited or abducted by rebels and army raids on Maoist supporters in villages that lacked clean water, electricity and often food -- a picture the film attempts to show.

“Of course we cannot capture 10 years of war in two hours, but I think we have portrayed the gist of it,” said Nawal Khadka, who wrote and produced the film.

“The movie shows that when the state does not address the issues of the people and is mute to their demands, people have to stand up and revolt,” said Khadka, who raised the $80,000 budget by taking loans against his home.

But Khadka’s gamble has paid off. The film has been shown in 28 cinemas around the country in five weeks and has brought in $150,000, according to Khadka, a fortune in Nepal where the annual average annual income is just $240.—AFP