Nearly four decades after she left for India, Mala Sinha will be remembered in her home country with the Nepal government honouring her film at the first National Film Festival that begins Monday.

The seven-day extravaganza will be inaugurated in the Birendra International Convention Centre in the evening by Queen Komal and according to the grapevine King Gyanendra himself could grace the awards ceremony on the last day.

While the organisers, the state-run Film Development Board of Nepal, confirmed that Bollywood Thespian Dev Anand, who shot three of his films in Nepal, will be conferred the first national award for excellence in films, Sinha's "Maitighar" is slated to receive the Critics' Award.

Also, as part of the Board's attempt to boost the Nepalese film industry, "Maitighar" released in Kathmandu's Bishwojyoti theatre Monday after nearly four decades.

A Bollywood sensation in the 60s, Sinha, who held her own in the industry despite her average looks and the reign of such dazzling leading ladies as Madhubala, was also once the first lady of Nepal's film industry.

When the seeds of the Nepalese film industry were sown about four decades ago under the patronage of the then king Mahendra with a documentary that focused on the achievements of the monarch, the first hit was "Maitighar", a feature film made by director B.S. Thapa with Sinha as the heroine.

However, in spite of the success of the 1966 film, the actress, a Nepalese Christian who had already been acting in Hindi films, decided to shift base to India's film capital Mumbai.

Though she was being wooed by her hero in the film, C.P. Lohani, who stayed in Kathmandu, and they eventually married, the talented actress still left for Mumbai, compelled by the dearth of new films in Nepal and the discrimination that saw leading ladies getting less money than the male lead - a tradition that continues even today.

As the festival unfolds with the screening of films, cultural programmes and an exhibition of movie posters, more Bollywood connections are sure to come up.

Among Nepalese directors, actors and technicians, there is a clutch of artistes who are either from India or have learnt their craft in the neighbouring country.

Besides Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala, the cynosure of all eyes will be the evergreen Dev Anand, who will arrive middle of this week with his actor son Sunil.