Wheels on the Bus
Nepal
2022
16 min
After being bullied into making iron wheels for his upper-caste peers, 12-year-old Bhyal, a so-called lower caste blacksmith, and his friend, 11-year-old Laba, are forced to steal iron from the village to make the wheels. At Bhyal’s workshop, the boys work through the night and fall asleep. Laba's father finds his son asleep with Bhyal and, outraged at the sight, calls the religious chief of the village to purify his son. With the entire village gathered, the village chief purifies Laba and passes judgment on Bhyal.
Original Language
Khas Nepali
Direction
Surya Shahi
Camera
Robin Dahal
Editing
Aashma Pokharel/ Nimesh Shrestha
Sound
Amit Shrestha/ Samrat Khanal
Script
Rajesh Prasad Khatri/ Surya Shahi
Producer
Prabin Kumar Rawat/ Sushant Shrestha/ Rajesh Prasad Khatri/ Surya Shahi
About the filmmaker.
Surya Shahi received a BFA in Acting and a BA in International Studies from Elon University, USA (2018). He returned to Nepal after he graduated and has been building a school and a hostel in his home region of Humla, where Wheels on the Bus was shot. He works part time as an acting teacher at Oscar International College of Film Studies in Kathmandu. Shahi worked on a Nepali short film A Curious Girl ( 2017) as casting director, acting coach, and assistant director. He was the creative producer for and acted in the musical short Rato Talo (2019). Shahi also worked as an acting coach on the short film FILAM (2020). He is currently working on his second short film The Curtain.