Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 839 Thu. October 05, 2006  
   
Culture


Chit chat with a child artiste
"I never want to grow up"-- Deeghi


A cherubic baby girl came into the lives of actors Doel and Shubroto on October 26, 2001. She lit up their world with joy and happiness. Little did they know that in just four years this baby girl would be a child star in her own right. She is like any other four-year-old except that she has six movies to boast of along with seven very popular TV commercials under her tiny belt. Deeghi -- a sweet doe eyed child with a cascade of waist length hair, has definitely had the Bangladeshi audience go gaga over her.

Says Deeghi's mother Doel, " We never thought of putting our child into showbiz. But when the Pepsodent commercial came along, seeing the script we couldn't refuse." Chips in Deeghi in a shy voice, " I was so scared to sit in the dentist's seat for the Pepsodent ad. I thought they would pull all my teeth out." After that Grameen Phone signed her for one of their commercials in which model Faisal acted as Deeghi's father. While Doel starts sharing the story behind that fiasco, Deeghi speaks up once again, "I didn't want to call Faisal uncle baba. I thought that if I called him baba then my real father would change. I cried a lot."

After her first two commercials Deeghi is now quite comfortable in front of the camera. Her maturity belies her age. She has successfully modeled for Danish guava juice, Navana apartments, Elite Ranga Mehendi, and Elite drink. She has also been the model for the channel 1 theme song.

This multi-talented tiny tot soon signed her first movie Kabuliwala, based on Ranidranath Tagore's familiar short story. Her parents were also a part of the cast. Explains Doel,"I am very selective about the roles I allow my daughter to play. I make sure that it is appropriate for her to act and that the movie doesn't have any indecent scenes."

Besides Kabuliwala, Deeghi has also acted in Daadima, Chachchu, Chachchu 2 (a sequel to Chachu), Kopal and Deeghi amar Deeghi.

Though Deeghi has a very busy schedule, like any four-year-old she loves watching cartoons and playing with her pots and pans. Her favourite cartoon is Tom and Jerry. "I love Jerry because he is so naughty and cute. I love playing cooking with my friends Shejuti and Jaka."

Deeghi is very fond of her mom's cooking, especially her chicken curry and Maggi noodles with a lot of egg in it. In her own words, " Though I love Ammu's cooking, when I go out I like having Chinese food." Responding to what else she loves, the child artiste says," I love my Pintu Chachu whom I call Bapu. I love going to Wonderland and to my grandparent's house. I absolutely love talking to my friends over the phone. I never want to grow up because everyone loves me so much now."

As for her future plans, her mother asserts, " As long as she is a child, acting is fine. But once she grows up she has to complete her graduation. After that she is free to decide what she wants to do."

In the past nine months Deeghi has received more than 10 awards. She has won awards from the Phullkoli Shongothon, Shako Telefilm, CJFB, Trab, Bangladesh Cultural Reporters' Unity and Bichitro Shongbad to mention but a few.

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Deeghi