Deeya,Deeya burning bright | Feature

Watching Deeya Maskey, who is currently the talk of the town for her brilliant performance in Kagbeni, in front of the camera, is a delight. She flirts with the camera as though it was her lover. She eyes it, smiles and then looks away only to look back at it again. She is confident that it loves her too and therefore, manages to get away with the attitude.

But it's not overnight that she built up this confidence. For it came as a revelation to know that this was the same woman who thought she would never be cast in the lead role of a movie. "Even though I had confidence in my acting, I never thought I was pretty enough to be a heroine," confesses the twenty-four year old actress. In fact, she was surprised to have been selected as the lead out of the approximately 200 other hopefuls auditioning for the part of Tara. And seeing her act on screen or in a play explains why she was chosen.

Though just a film old, her struggle to make it big started from the time she was dancing, which she calls her first love, as a child; especially in the home front. "Although I have been training to dance since I was four, it took a lot of convincing for my parents to let me take it up as a career," she reveals.

Despite all the popularity, her parents still hint about choosing a career that is more consistent. But Deeya couldn't care less.

This headstrong actress's first stint in front of the camera came while in school as one of the children in a white frock in the song Jun Ta Lagyo Tara Le from the movie Dui Thopa Aansu. The song gave her a taste of the movie world and showed her the possibilities in it. With her natural flair for dancing and lady luck on her side, Deeya has had easy steps made for her in the career. "Surendra Shrestha of Sur Sudha had seen me dance in school when he had come to play the tabla for my kathak piece," she says, "And in 97, came searching for me to be a part of the Maha Jodi Show." She was initially elated to be a part of such a popular show but the happiness quickly turned to tears when the show went to USA. "I was dancing after a break of three years and I thought I had lost my talent as I wasn't satisfied with my dancing," she explains.

So, to hone her talent she enrolled for a bachelor's program in Padma Kanya Campus and graduated with a degree in dance. Dancing all the way she then cried into the hearts of the audience as the wife of a solider in the song Bhijyo Sirani.

Deeya has the tendency to be at the right place at the right time as that music video got her a role in a television series Dalaan. She met Anup Baral, a stalwart in Nepali theatre during the filming of the series and later on learnt the basics of acting and theatre under his tutelage as the first batch of Actor's Studio. And now Kagbeni has made her a household name.

So which does she prefer stage or celluloid? "Both are the same. It's just the difference in medium that's all," expresses Deeya, who plans to continue doing both. With a penchant for excelling at everything she does, Deeya is currently training in kathak dance as a junior once again. "There is nothing like too much learning, for the more you practice the better you get at it," says the passionate dancer. But on being asked what she wants to be known as she says, "I don't want to be bracketed just as a dancer or an actress but as an artist." So, there you have it, a charming, amusingly blunt and committed actress who is bound to shine in the coming future.