Saga Of A Dancer
After few weeks of phone calls, Deeya Maskey finally gave me an appointment for interview. And when we finally met and I discovered her schedule I could see why it took weeks just to get half an hour for an interview.
Entering the glamorous world of Kollywood with the most non-glamorous movies like ‘Kagbeni’, ‘Sanghuro’ and ‘Soongava’ Deeya is already considered as the next big thing in the Nepali film industry. Besides being a versatile actor Deeya is also a fabulous dancer—she is a trained Katthak and Bharat Nattyam dancer and holds Master’s Degree in Katthak from Allahabad University.
Despite the success she has received, Deeya likes to consider herself as a girl next door— who is emotional and sensitive, but strong, stoic and stubborn at the same time.
DREAMS caught up with the dancer/actor to talk about dance, her inspirations and impact of art in her life.
How did dance become such an integral part of your life?
Since my childhood, I have always had a keen interest in the performing arts. I would participate in every dance program at my school. My parents and teachers say that I always had the spark of a dancer. Later, I took up classes for different dance forms from experts like Raju Shah. I started learning dance at the age of three and was always on stage for something or the other.
What is it about dance that inspires you?
The performing arts is the reason for my existence, I seek inspiration in everything it offers. The silence in a room after a performance, the applaud, the chaos of music and my audiences, these are all important parts of my life. And this is what inspires me to create magic on and off the stage. Dance is movement and everything that moves inspires me.
How did your dancing career start?
My dancing career started with the song ‘Jun Ta Lagyo Tara Le…‘ from Tulsi Ghimire‘s ‘Dui Thopa Aansu’ where I danced as a child artist. It was one of the most popular movie songs of that time. I was just 10 years old and I remember I cried because the crews made me look like an adult with makeups and dresses.
How did you get into acting?
Whether it was dancing or acting, I knew that I belonged on stage. As I was passionate about dancing I took up an offer to do a music video “Bhijyo Sirani Raat ma”—which instantly became a huge hit.
When Nabin Subba saw my music video he called me for “Dalan”—a teleserial. Then I was sent to Pokhara for five day workshop on acting. Those five days completely changes my perception regarding actors and acting. That was when I perceived acting beyond glitzs & glam.
Later when I was selected for the role of Kali in “Dalan”— lead role opposite to Anup Baral— I understood the core hard work actors put into a character. I was a teenager and it was challenging for me to play a role of an elderly woman. Training was held for me, where I learned local language of Parbat to a body language of a 40 years old woman. It was challenging but it was totally worth it.
When I look back I feel proud to be associated with Dalan. So my acting career began with Dalan.
What are the different forms of dance you know? Which is your favorite form of dancing and why?
Katthak, Bharat-Nattyam, Nepali Folk, Jazz, Salsa, Charya, Free Style are the dance forms which I perform. I consider myself fortunate to have learnt all these forms of dance from the best dancers like Binod Oli, Yakgya Man Sakya, Subima Shrestha and Raju Shah.
I am always eager to learn new form of dances, which is why I keep participating in workshops on various forms of dances. Recently I participated in a workshop organized by a group called Spectrum, USA— where I got an opportunity to acquire knowledge on lyrical hip-hops. The experience was amazing.
Katthak and Jazz are my favorite forms of dance. Katthak is among the six major classical dances of India and one of the most dynamic theatre arts in the world. It is more about right posture and expressions while Jazz dance is an American form of dance. It involves a range of lively, often sensuous body movement and percussion techniques, with a mix of tap steps, social dances and ballet. Its attitude and sensuous moves are what attracts me mainly because it is completely different from real me. These are two completely different forms of dance yet both have come across as a challenge for me and I love challenges.
How did your parents react when you started dance and acting career?
My grandmother was a trained Bharat-Nattyam dancer and my aunt was a Katthak dancer, also as I was dancing from the age of three, so, my parents were never against my dancing career. But yes, they opposed when I started acting because in our society acting was considered as crude profession.
But today, with the kind of work I am doing, their perception has changed. Most importantly they are happy with applauds and praise that I have been receiving for my contribution.
Do you think dance can be a career option today?
Surviving with art— be it dancing, painting or acting— as a career is still not easy because art is hardly a career in our society. People do not take art seriously, since for them art can only be a hobby.
But I have seen many people who have dedicated their entire life to art and have survived. Hence I won’t say one cannot survive but yes it requires extreme devotion and patience to succeed in this field. Survival is not a big deal; big deal is getting respect for your work.
What would you be if not a dancer?
Dancing is my passion and it’s in my blood. It’s something from where I cannot detach myself. In fact, today I am obsessed to give my best to this industry. This is also the only thing that I know and I can do. I had no method to become a star; I just did whatever made me happy. So I wouldn’t think of any other career other than this one.
Deeya Maskey is a phenomenal dancer besides the regular facade of her personality we know as an actress. She is getting tied in nuptial knots with equally phenomenal theatre director Anup Baral in July. We would like to wish her and congratulate them for their blissfully wedded life.
****
Text by: Shraddha Thapa
Image Source: Deeya Maskey
Tags: Deeya Maskey, Nepali Actress, Nepali Dancer
Categorised in: Interviews
2 comments on “Saga Of A Dancer”
Leave a Reply
Inspiring!!
Beauty with the brains!