Khagendra Lamichhane

Khagendra Lamichhane is one of Nepal’s most renowned theater actors, playwrights, and directors who has become a household name with his critically acclaimed performances in the films Talakjung vs Tulke and Pashupati Prasad. He began acting in 1999 and has since become a very popular name in Nepali theater and cinema. Throughout his career, he has directed five major stage plays, most of which have been performed at national and international theater festivals. Lamichhane is a writer as well, and so far, he has written three books, although his literary contributions are reported to have increased since then, which requires a new bibliography.
In addition to working in theater and film, Lamichhane has collaborated with several international agencies. He collaborated heavily with BBC Media Action as an editor, writer, producer, and actor of the award-winning radio drama Katha Mitho Sarangiko. He further worked as an editor of Kathamaala, a post-earthquake reconstruction radio drama. He was also a Drama Production Consultant with the British Council and continues on the Nepali arts scene as chairperson of Tukee Arts Pvt. Ltd., a company dedicated to theater promotion and creative storytelling in Nepal.

Born in rural Syangja district of western Nepal, Lamichhane’s first exposure to drama was being part of a Western District Drama competition with his friends. This sparked his passion for performing arts. Determined to make acting his career, he moved to Kathmandu, joined Naachghar, an institution of theater, and began writing plays, the start of his diversified career as an artist.

Lamichhane wrote and starred in his first feature film, Talakjung vs Tulke, where he played the character of Tulke a performance for which he gained national prominence. He again made his mark in Nepali cinema with Pashupati Prasad Khakurel’s character in Pashupati Prasad (2014), a film he wrote and also acted in. His starring role in the internationally released film Highway (2012), which opened at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, was his emergence onto an international stage.

Some of your most prominent films on film are socially and politically inspired. In Damaru ko Dandi Biyo (2018) and Dhanapati (2017), Lamichhane played leading roles portraying contemporary Nepali society. He also performed in a film called Badhshala, which was directed and written by Manoj Pandit on war and human rights during the war period in Nepal.

Lamichhane also performed in various award-winning plays as a theater actor. Interestingly, he wrote, directed, and performed in the solo plays Hajurbako Katha (2008) and Peeda Geet (2007), both of which explored deeply emotional and humanist themes. Peeda Geet, for example, was performed abroad at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland (2009), Patumthani International Theatre Festival in Thailand (2009), and Aarohan National Theatre Festival in Nepal (2007), which brought Nepali solo performance art onto the world stage.

He has also appeared in other significant Nepali films such as Maya Devika Sapana (2010), written by Abhi Subedi and directed by Sunil Pokharel; Kaatro (2004) by Prem Chand; and Sirumarani (2003) by Sarubhakta, directed by Anup Baral.

As a director, Lamichhane has also worked on changing things in contemporary Nepali theater. His directorial works are Daantko Dob (2016), a Tukee Arts production, and AtalBahadurko Aatanka (2011), a powerful production by Aarohan, Gurukul. His earlier works, like Paaniphoto (2010), and revival productions of his own solo works like Hajurbako Katha and Peeda Geet have all contributed to getting his name as a thought-through and forward-thinking theater practitioner.