KATHMANDU, Nepal - "I will endure fire but not injustice," she says stoutly on her Facebook profile. "I will endure thirst but not abuse. I am the daughter of Nepal, who will never falter." It is not the kind of message one would expect from a silver screen star and sex symbol. However, it fits Nepali actress Rekha Thapa like a glove in her current avatar -- the new Maoist gal on the block.
The 20-something sensual gal from eastern Nepal, who has become a household name on account of her skimpy outfits and power to generate controversy, is the new publicity weapon for former guerrillas, hobnobbing with their top leaders to spruce up the formerly underground party's public image.
Rekha -- who shot into the limelight for doing her own stunts, picking a fight with Bollywood bad man Shakti Kapoor, and ruffling the feathers of a conservative Hindu organization for her backless blouse -- is now on a new publicity putsch after formally joining the Maoist party.
Soon after her admission to the party in 2009, she proved her value as a crowd-puller when she sashayed into a Maoist blockade of the prime minister's office last November and shook a leg with Maoist chief and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, to the bemusement of onlookers, the media, and Prachanda's wife Sita Dahal.
In 2007, a year after the Maoists ended their 10-year "People's War" and came above ground, young director Shivji Lamichhane directed "Lal Salam," a film on the insurgency that glorifies the former rebels. More>>
