The making of Nepali films is said to have begun with D.B. Pariyar's ''[[Satya Harishchandra (1951 film)|Satya Harishchandra]]'', which was the first Nepali language film to be shot. It was produced from [[Kolkata, India]], and was released on September 14, 1951. ''Aama'' (meaning mother) was the first film produced in Nepal, and was released on October 7, 1964. It was produced by the Information Department of His Majesty's Government of Nepal (now Government of Nepal). It was directed by Hira Singh Khatri and the lead actors were Shiva Shankar and Bhuwan Thapa, who are regarded as the first actors in the history of the Nepali film industry.
The first film to be produced under a private banner was ''Maitighar'' (meaning the birth home of a girl), which was released at the end of 1966 by Sumonanjali Films Pvt. Ltd. Although it was a Nepali movie, it had many Indians contributing toward the making of the film. [[Mala Sinha]] played the lead role, along with Chidambar Prasad Lohani, whom she later married. It had special appearances of [[Sunil Dutt]] and comedian [[Rajendra Nath]]. Directed by B.S. Thapa and music scored by [[Jaidev]], a veteran music maestro, it had [[Lata Mangeshkar]], [[Asha Bhosle]], [[Usha Mangeshkar]] and [[Manna Dey]], all of whom were established Indian singers, doing the playback singing by Prem Dhoj Pradhan, C.P. Lohani and [[Aruna Lama]].
The Nepal government established the Royal Nepal Film Corporation in 1971. ''Mann Ko Bandh'' was the first film produced by the corporation. Prakesh Thapa was the director of the film. Nati Kaji and Shiva Shankar were the music composers of the songs. [[Amber Gurung]] scored the background music. The film premiered in 1973 in [[Kathmandu]]. ''Mann Ko Bandh'' was followed by ''Kumari'' (the first [[Eastman color]] Nepali film) in 1977, ''Sindoor'' in 1980, and ''Jeevan Rekha'' in a series. The success of these films opened up the avenue for private parties to enter into filmmaking as an industrial endeavor. The movie ''Paral Ko Aago'', directed by Pratap Subba, was produced by Ceneroma in 1978. The black-and-white movie proved to be a great success due to its story and melodious music. The music director of the movie, Shanti Thatal, was the first female music director in Nepali movies. Lyrics were prepared by Manbahadur Mukhiya and Indra Thapaliya and the songs were sung by [[Aruna Lama]], Dawa Gyalmo, Pema Lama, Shankar Gurung and Deepa Gahatraj (Jha). The actors of the movie were Tanka Sharma, Basundhara Bhusal, I.K. Singh, Menuka Pradhan, etc. Pratap Subba was also the scriptwriter. The movie was based on a popular book by [[Guru Prasad Mainali]] with the same title.
