page_title: Swastima Khadka
section_title: 2018–present: Nai Nabhannu La 5 and Bulbul
hierarchical_section_title: Swastima Khadka / Career / 2018–present: Nai Nabhannu La 5 and Bulbul
caption_attribution_description: English: Swastima Khadka promoting Bulbul
context_page_description: Swastima Khadka is a Nepalese actress who predominantly works in Nepali cinema. She has appeared in Love Love Love, Chhakka Panja 2, Nai Nabhannu La 5, and Bulbul.
  Khadka debuted as an actress in the 2015 teen romance Hostel Returns, for which she was nominated for the National Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress. This initial success was followed by a series of commercially successful films. After her debut, she appeared in the 2017 romantic-drama Love Love Love, which received positive reviews from critics. In 2017, Khadka appeared in social drama film Chhakka Panja 2, which became commercially successful, grossing 60 million Nepalese rupees within the first six days of release, and became the second highest-grossing Nepali film. That same year, Khadka starred in drama film Bulbul. The film was selected as the Nepalese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. Her performance in the film was met with critical acclaim.
  Before venturing into Nepali cinema, she participated in Miss Teen Nepal at the age of 17. She has been married to Nischal Basnet since 2016.
context_section_description: In 2018, Khadka starred in Bikash Raj Acharya's romantic-drama Nai Nabhannu La 5, the fifth installment in the Nai Nabhannu La film series. In the film, Khadka plays Ranjana, a teenage girl who shares a romance with Neer, played by debutant actor Abhisek Nepal. Her performance was praised by Diwakar Pyakurel of Onlinekhabar, who wrote, "Khadka has acted as stubborn late teen; and she does it quite well." The film surpassed two crore (20 million) Nepalese rupees (approximately US$163,500 in 2020) in its first weekend. Later in the same year, Khadka had a minor role in the film Chhakka Panja 3 where she played the role of a Brahmin girl who becomes the love interest of a Janajati boy. Later, she appeared in Jai Bhole (2018) alongside Khagendra Lamichhane, Saugat Malla, and Buddhi Tamang. The film focuses on Jai (Khagendra Lamichhane) who falls for Nisha (Swastima Khadka), but Nisha's sworn brother interferes with them.
  In 2019, Khadka appeared alongside Mukun Bhusal in Binod Paudel's drama film Bulbul. In the film, Khadka plays Ranakala, a student driver in Kathmandu. The film was selected as the Nepalese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. About her performance, she told The Nepali Man, "Out of all my six movies, I received maximum appreciation [for] Bulbul. So this does mean that somewhere there is a solid part of [the] audience that [does] enjoy these independent movies. Bulbul went onto its fourth week. In this time, for any movie to run into its second week is a very good response. So, Bulbul being on its fourth is a huge feat in itself. That is why I am pretty sure that an audience who [does] understand such art movies is growing". Khadka's performance was met with critical acclaim. Prakriti Kandel, writing for Nepali Times, praised her, saying:
  Swastima Khadka's authentic portrayal of Ranakala is refreshing and captivates. Her hardships are writ large in her sombre expressions and sharp dialogues which give us a nuanced, all-round portrait of her complex psychology. One can't help but root for this simple, independent girl as she makes a living in a difficult city. She is fierce at her job, tender as a mother, understanding as a friend, struggling as a wife. But overall Ranakala embodies the female shakti.
  — Prakriti Kandel, Nepali Times
  After Bulbul, Khadka appeared in Hajar Juni Samma, and Ghamad Shere the same year. In Hajar Juni Samma, Khadka plays Avantika, a medical student from Sikkim. Sunny Mahat of The Annapurna Express described the film as "a movie you’d want to watch with your female friends, just to see them cringe at the creepy old man trying to find a match for his son". Rupak Risal of Moviemandu wrote that Khadka had "done justice to [her] role". In Ghamad Shere, where Khadka starred as Gauri, an English teacher and sister-in-law of the main character Shere, played by Khadka's husband Nischal Basnet. Abhimanyu Dixit of The Kathmandu Post criticized the decision to cast Basnet and Khadka in the same film as siblings-in-law, writing, "To cast Swastima as a reel-life sister-in-law to her real-life husband Nischal might have seemed like a good idea, or something ‘different’ on paper, but it hardly works. Both actors try hard to be consistent with their respective characters but it's not enough to make us believe that they’re anything except Nischal and Swastima, the real-life couple."
caption: Swastima Khadka (left pictured in 2019) promoting Bulbul with Mukun Bhusal (right).
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