In
2007, a year after the Maoists ended their 10-year 'People's War' and
came overground, young director Shivji Lamichhane directed 'Lal Salam', a
film on the insurgency that glorifies the former rebels.

This
year, Lamichhane is making his next film, 'Jaljala', Jaljala being a
village in Thabang in western Rolpa district where the Maoists set up
their 'capital' during the insurrection.

Rekha takes a break from her usual bump and grind rounds to play Maoist combatant Comrade Jaljala.

When
the shooting started, Nand Kishore Pun Pasang, the deputy chief of the
Maoists' People's Liberation Army, reportedly showed her how an actual
gun is fired.

This month, Rekha Thapa's star turned a deeper red
when she became the sister of Chandra Bahadur Thapa Sagar, chief of the
Maoists' much-criticised youth organisation, the Young Communist League
(YCL).

Even the spectacle of deposed king Gyanendra celebrating
Brother's Day with his only surviving sister Shobha Shahi faded into
insignificance compared to the hullabaloo created by Rekha publicly
proclaiming Sagar to be her brother and accepting a cash gift from him.

It
was followed by more success last week after Prachanda's deputy and the
leading intellectual in the Maoist party, former finance minister
Baburam Bhattarai, capitulated to the sex siren's charms.

Bhattarai,
an avid viewer of 'serious' and cotemporary issue-based Bollywood
films, surprised Kathmandu when along with party comrade and formerly
designated Nepali ambassador to India, Ram Karki, he sauntered into a
theatre during the protracted political crisis in the country to watch a
film in the company of Rekha Thapa.

The film was no other than
Rekha's recent release, 'Kasle chorayo mero man' (Who stole my heart), a
predictable, poor boy-meets-rich-girl romance that despite its weak
story and unbelievable characters is still reported to have done roaring
business during the festival season.

Image: Rekha Thapa renewed her top-level Maoist contacts by proclaiming Maoist leader Sagar to be her brother on Brother's Day.