Shanti Maskey (;1928-2011), was a Nepalese actress who acted in more than 50 films. She was one of the first actors of Nepali film industry. She was a recipient of

Gorkha Dakshin Bahu The Most Puissant Order of the Gorkha Dakshina Bahu (; Order of the Gurkha Right Arm ''or Hand'') was an order of knighthood of Nepal. It was one of the highest honors given traditionally by the king. It was awarded to both the military and civili ...

, the second highest award awarded by the

Kingdom of Nepal The Kingdom of Nepal was a Hindu monarchy in South Asia, founded in 1768 through the unification of Nepal, expansion of the Gorkha Kingdom. The kingdom was also known as the Gorkha Empire and was sometimes called History of Asal Hindustan, ...

. Her notable films include '' Jiwan rekha'', ''

Sindur Sindoor (, ) or sindura (,) is a traditional vermilion red or orange-red or maroon cosmetic powder from South Asia, usually worn by married women along the part of their hairline. In Hindu communities, the sindoor is considered auspicious an ...

'', '' Ke ghar ke dera'', ''

Kanchhi ''Kanchhi'' () is a 1984 Nepali film directed by B.S. Thapa and produced by Bhagawan Das Shrestha. The film was a major hit in Nepal. The 1984 release, Nepali movie ‘Kanchhi’ was one of the very successful movies at that time. The movie feat ...

'', ''Pachyaura'', ''Manko bandh'', ''Santan'' and ''Kasturi'', among others. She had participated in the struggle for democracy in 1951. She was a singer and a stage actor before she started her film career.

Early life

Shanti Maskey was born in Teenpeepal,

Gorkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

in 1928.

Career

She first went to

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, and then to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, accompanied by her mother, in search of opportunities in the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

. She acted in some stage plays in Calcutta but returned to Nepal when the 1951 revolution started. She first reached

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a List of cities in Nepal, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Koshi Province. With a Metropolitan Urban Agglomeration population of 244,750 as per the 2021 Nepal census, 2021 census, it is the largest c ...

where she sang revolutionary songs in Radio Democracy during the revolution. After the success of the revolution, she moved back to Kathmandu. She met playwright Bal Krishna Sama for the first time in 1953-54 in Kathmandu, and acted in his play ''Andhaweg'' in a theater in

Singha Durbar Singha Durbar () is a palace in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The palace complex lies in the centre of Kathmandu, to the north of Babar Mahal and Thapathali Durbar and east of Bhadrakali Temple (Kathmandu), Bhadrakali Temple. This palace wa ...

, that same year. Her first film was '' Hijo Aaja Bholi'' (1967). She found success with ''Jiwan Rekha'' and ''Sindur''. She acted in more than 50 Nepali films in the subsequent decades. She also acted in Bollywood films ''Kissa Kathmandu'' and ''Panchvati''. She was an established stage actor before she entered the film industry. She also made her name as a singer of modern songs. She was the founding coordinator of Nepal Cine Artists Association. At the time of her death, she was an adviser at the Nepal Film Development Board, as well as a member of the Leadership and Membership Selection Committee of Nepal Pragya Pratisthan.

Personal life

She married Bir Bahadur Maskey in 1954-55, as his third wife.

Death and legacy

She had gotten injured when she jumped off Narayani bridge during the shooting of ''Santan'' in 1989. She had to have a pacemaker installed after the incident, which she had had changed in 2006 and was in poor health in her last years. She had been living with Latika, granddaughter, in the latter's home in Bhainsepati, Lalitpur, where she died from complications related to her heart problem, on 18 January 2011, at the age of 83. Although she died at home, her body was taken to Gangalal Memorial Hospital to get the

pacemaker A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

removed. According to another source, she had been getting treatment at the Gangalal hospital all along, and passed away while still in care, there. She also donated her eyes. Her body was kept at Nepal Pragya Pratisthan, Kamaladi for final tributes, before being cremated at

Pashupati Paśupati (, ) is a form of the Hindu deity Śiva, in his benign aspect as the five-faced herdsman of all creatures. Paśupati is traditionally considered to be the guardian deity of Nepal, described in texts such as the ''Nepāla Māhātmya'' ...

that same day. The then

Prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Madhav Kumar Nepal Madhav Kumar Nepal (, ; born 6 March 1953), is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister of Nepal. He served as prime minister from 25 May 2009 to 6 February 2011. He previously served as the Deputy Prime Minister along with the charges o ...

Culture minister A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizat ...

Minendra Rijal,

Information minister An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given t ...

Shankar Pokharel, CPN UML president Jhala Nath Khanal and

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel were among those who paid their respects. Also attending, were

Home minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

Bhim Rawal and tourism minister Sarad Singh Bhandari. Among the attendees from the film industry were, Basundhara Bhusal, Bhuwan Chand, Chaitanya Devi Singh, Yuvaraj Lama and Dhiren Shakya. Prime minister Nepal said her death was "an irrevocable loss". Information minister Pokharel remembered her contributions to the country's first democratic revolution, while first actress of Nepali cinema, Bhuwan Chand said Maskey's death was like losing the mother, and Bhusal said that Nepali film had lost its "foundation pillar". The Film Artist Association has established the annual ''Nepal Film Artist Association Shanti Maskey Award'' with cash prize of NPR 15,100 in her honour.

Awards

She was the recipient of

, the second highest honour awarded by the

, among dozens of other awards. Some of them were: *

*National Cine Artist Association Lifetime Achievement Award *Lifetime Achievement Award at the first annual Dabur Anmol Motion Picture Awards (2004) *''Urwashi Puraskar'' *''Sarwotkrishta Chalachitra Abhinetri Puraskar'' *''Charitra Abhinetri Puraskar''

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maskey, Shanti 1928 births 20th-century Nepalese women singers Nepalese stage actresses 2011 deaths People from Gorkha District Nepalese film actresses Actresses in Nepali cinema 20th-century Nepalese actresses