For her role as an escort in an upcoming comedy, actress Mariska Pokharel says she had to dive into research about the lifestyle and the daily schedule of ‘call girls’ in order to prepare to face the camera. “Apparently there were other actresses who turned down the project just because of the film’s name,” Pokharel said, “But I found the project compelling and couldn’t wait to get started.”

The film, Mr Virgin, has more than just a title that might not be instantly palatable for some Nepali filmgoers, it also striving to bring a sex comedy into the mainstream film scene.

The cast and crew of the film are currently on a nationwide promotion tour, where they are eliciting plenty of laughter but also raising some eyebrows. At Chitwan, where the cast engaged in a conversation with journalists on Wednesday, Gaurav Pahari—who plays the role of Dal Bahadur in the movie—tried to address some of the concerns by reiterating that the film was not vulgar, despite the suggestive title.

“We have tried to explore sexuality and psychology in the film,” Pahari said, “But just because we have taken a new approach doesn’t mean that the film is in anyway vulgar. Experimental yes, but not vulgar. We are hoping to break new ground by bringing what might be Nepal’s first sex comedy to screen.”

Debutant director Bisharad Basnet, a theatre director and actor who says he is befuddled as to why “everyone is so serious in life,” claimed that moviegoers should reserve judgments before seeing the movie themselves. “We feel that we’ve put together a good movie,” he said, “Instead of panning the movie for its name, we would love to hear back from the viewers after the movie has been screened.”

Mr Virgin also features actors Bijay Baral, Kamalmani Nepal, Bholaraj Sapkota, Rabindra Jha and Srijana Subba, and will hit screens starting August 17.  

Criticism of Mr Virgin’s title follows an incident earlier this year where the movie Ganja Baja—a portrait of two urban stoners—was forced to change its name before being granted permission for a nationwide release.