Rekha Thapa

Rekha Thapa (रेखा थापा in Nepali) is an award-winning Nepali actress, filmmaker, model, and a politician. Thapa started her modelling career at the age of 18 after competing in the 1999 Miss Nepal competition.

Thapa’s bid for the Miss Nepal pageant was unsuccessful, but in 2001 she got a chance to act in her future husband’s movie Hero. Since then Thapa has worked in more than 200 Nepali movies and is considered one of the most successful actresses in Nepal. She is also famous for various scandals and controversies.

In recent years, Thapa has worked as a movie producer and director and owns a movie production firm, Rekha Entertainment. During the 2013 Constitution Assembly Elections in Nepal, Thapa supported the CPN Maoists and took part in their campaigns, which was criticized by some of her fans. In 2022, Thapa joined the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

Early Life & Education

Rekha Thapa was born on 21 August 1981 in the Salakpur village in the Morang district of eastern Nepal. After completing her School Leaving Certificate (SLC), she finished her Higher Secondary education in Humanities and Social Sciences at a college in Morang. After that, Thapa moved to Kathmandu. Since she was more into fashion and modelling than studying, she decided to discontinue her education and started looking for opportunities in modelling agencies and acting firms. Her parents wanted to see her as a doctor, but she decided to choose acting as her career.

Personal details:
Born	Rekha Thapa Native name: रेखा थापा 21 August 1982 Morang, Nepal
Education	Higher Secondary Education (Humanities and Social Sciences)
Profession	Actress Producer Model Politician Philanthropist
Years active	1999-present
Notable work(s)	Himmatwali
Parents	Prem Thapa Saraswoti Thapa
Spouse(s)	Chhabi Raj Ojha (2000-2012) Balaram Shahi (2022-)
Children	None
Residence(s)	Kathmandu, Nepal
Nationality	Nepali
Ethnicity	Chettri
Award(s)	CG Digital Film Awards (2010) NEFTA Film Awards (2011)
Sexual orientation	Straight
Body measurement	Height: 1.6m (5.24 feet)
Zodiac sign	Leo
Religion	Hindu
Social Media links	Facebook Instagram Twitter
People Also Read: Rekha Thapa Foundation Kusum Thapa Magar Chhabi Raj Ojha Sajum Katwal (Rekha Thapa talking to a Nepali journalist in Kantipur TV’s talk show Fireside)

Movie Career

Thapa finally got a break when she was approached by a successful Nepali film producer Chhabi Raj Ojha for a role in his upcoming movie Hero. Thapa co-starred in the movie with Nepal’s longstanding superstar Rajesh Hamal. Since then Thapa has worked in several commercially successful and critically acclaimed Nepali movies. Some of her most acclaimed movies include Himmatwali, Kali, Bato Muniko Phool, Andaaj, Veer and Minitni. Since 2013, she also started producing and directing movies for her home production.

Rekha Thapa filmography

During her long movie career Thapa has played in numerous movies and as of 2022, continues to do so.

Glamour, politics & scandals

Rekha Thapa is considered a darling of Nepali tabloids and is portrayed at times as a sex symbol in the Nepali movie industry. She is widely popular in the Nepali media for various scandals as well. However, in an interview with MixKhabar, she stressed that though she had been given media attention for her provocative way of dressing on screen, she was sexually a cold person. She also emphasized that sex was not something that one did daily, rather it should be a once-a-week or a once-a-month affair.

In 2009, Thapa came into the media limelight when she danced with Prachanda, Nepal’s Maoist chairman and ex-prime minister. Prachanda was criticized for the act by his party cadres and the general public. Though a supporter of the Maoist party then, Thapa said in an interview with Jana Pukar online that her favourite Nepali leader was BP Koirala.

In the same year, Rekha was seen kissing the then shortest man on Earth, Chandra Bahadur Dangi. In 2010, Lex Limbu, a popular Nepali blogger, termed Rekha the Paris Hilton of Nepal.

Rekha Thapa’s philanthropic work

In 2013, Rekha Thapa established a non-profit organization after her name, The Rekha Thapa Foundation, and steered social work activities for a while. She adopted four children from the disadvantaged Raute community in Western Nepal. The children were said to be studying in the Ananda Kuti School in Kathmandu. In the same year, Thapa spent a day with the Rautes in Surkhet and made some donations. The Rekha Thapa Foundation donated NRS 50,000 to support the education of disabled students in Bal Jagriti College in Mahendranagar. Lately, there hasn’t been any significant update from the foundation about its work.

Personal Life

Rekha Thapa is considered a gossip queen in Nepal. Her tumultuous personal life feeds media stories on a daily basis.

Thapa had a twelve-year-long relationship/partnership with the film producer Chhabi Raj Ojha. Though the relationship was never registered, Ojha has claimed that the marriage ceremony was carried out in a traditional way and they were a married couple. Rekha Thapa hasn’t confirmed that they were legally married. However, the couple lived together, owned properties together, and invested in and produced movies together for years. In the summer of 2012, the couple ended their relationship.

In 2016, it was announced that the couple went through legal divorce proceedings so that Chhabi Raj Ojha could get married to another actress he was dating, Shilpa Pokhrel.

After her divorce, Thapa started dating Sudarshan Gautam, a non-resident Nepali who co-starred with her in Himmatwali. Gautam is a Canadian citizen of Nepali origin and is physically disabled. Though the couple had plans to climb mountains together and make movies together, in March 2015, Thapa said in an interview that her affair with Sudarshan was a publicity stunt proposed by a journalist for the commercial success of their movie. However, her claims didn’t seem to be true as the couple continued their affair. Sudarshan Gautam has a wife and a son from his previous relationship.

In 2016, a Nepali astrologer publicly predicted that Rekha’s planets would not let her have a successful marital affair with anyone and that she would benefit most if she entered politics or continued working in the movie industry. She also predicted that Rekha Thapa would be Nepal’s cabinet minister one day.

In February 2022, Thapa married her long-time boyfriend Balaram Shahi.