Is Dev Anand being honoured with the Excellence in Films award of Nepal as a tribute to his considerable achievements or because of his close proximity to the royal family?

That is the question a section of Nepal's four-decade-old film industry is asking even as the government confers on him the newly constituted award at the first National Film Festival that kicked off in the capital Monday.

"We do not doubt Dev Anand's charisma or achievements," said an award-winning director who did not want to be named. "But the question is, what has he done to promote the Nepalese film industry?"

The organisers of the festival say Dev Anand promoted Nepal by shooting at least three of his films in the kingdom nearly three decades ago. However, critics say that could be good for the tourism sector, not the film industry.

"French photographer Eric Valli made a Nepalese film, Caravan, that received an Oscar nomination," said a Kathmandu-based documentary maker who too declined to be named.

"The film won international acclaim because of the spectacular cinematography and realistic treatment. It also gave a genuine boost to the film industry by using a cast comprising wholly of Nepalese. Yet he is not even mentioned anywhere."

Dev Anand was a friend of the late king Mahendra, father of the present king, and was a state invitee at royal coronations and weddings in Nepal.

The film industry began virtually under state patronage when Mahendra in the 1960s brought an Indian filmmaker, Hira Singh, to make a film that would praise the repressive panchayat government headed by him.

The current festival, organised by the state-run Film Development Board, too started on a controversial note with some regarding it more as a ploy to extol King Gyanendra's power seizure in February than promote the ailing Nepalese film industry.

Since the 59-year-old monarch dismissed the government of prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and assumed direct power with the help of the army, the new government has been using all the methods at its disposal to justify the takeover.

As part of the propaganda, the state media in the past highlighted statements by select artistes from the film industry who welcomed the royal coup.

As part of the programme of the weeklong film festival, the Film Development Board has organised an inter-school essay competition on the theme "films and the royal family".

Inaugurated by Queen Komal, the film festival had its keynote delivered by government spokesman and Minister for Information and Communications Tanka Dhakal, who used the occasion to defend the royal coup.

"The king had taken the historic move to resolve the crisis created by Maoist terrorists and should be supported by people from all walks of life," Dhakal said in his speech.

Coming down on the politicisation of the festival, the Kathmandu Post daily said in its editorial Tuesday that it was "ironic that the festival of an art form, which is utterly democratic and mass-based, is being celebrated in an isolated manner" behind "closed doors" with only "guests provided with special passes" being allowed entry.

"King Mahendra had misused the medium to propagandise the autocratic panchayat system... the Film fraternity must be aware that cinema should not be used to promote and glamorise an authoritarian regime," it warned.