Painting Nepal in a Day: Nippon Paint’s Festival of Colors
Some shoots test your creativity. Others test your stamina. This one tested both and then some.
Nippon Paint’s “What Color Are You?” was a vibrant celebration of Holi, the festival of colors, but with the scale of an international feature film. We had just one day to shoot across two of Nepal’s most iconic UNESCO World Heritage Sites Bhaktapur Durbar Square in the morning and Patan Durbar Square in the afternoon and evening.
We had more than 200 crew from Nepal, Malaysia, and India. Arri lights, massive grip setups, huge generators, and support trucks came all the way from India along with the key grip, gaffer, and other specialists. The cast wore a mix of Rajasthani, Nepali, and Newari style costumes. Four hundred extras filled the streets, and two elephants decorated in full festive attire added to the grandeur.
Shifting an entire set like this in a single day was a feat in itself. We started before sunrise in Bhaktapur, capturing the morning light, and then moved to Patan for the afternoon and evening scenes. Every moment was planned to the last detail, yet it required constant adjustments on the fly. This is what production in Nepal demands and what we do best.
What many people do not know is the work that happens after the cameras stop rolling. Cleaning and restoring the heritage squares to their original state took our expert team more than ten days. Every stone, every wall, every detail had to be exactly as it was before we arrived.
If you are up for it, watch the final commercial of Nippon Paint “What Color Are You?”
We play a vital role in Nepal’s film tourism. In fact, we were among the very first to make it possible for international productions to shoot here with such scale and precision. From the parent company Films & Adfilms to Location Nepal and Gautam Dhimal, our mission is to handle every stage of film and photography production from initial planning to final wrap with unmatched expertise.
Whether it is heritage sites, remote mountains, or city streets, we are ready for projects of any magnitude.
