Nepal Television (NTV) crew was looking for a fresh face and had come to conduct an audition.[break] "This changed everything for me. I was selected and shortly began a show zaanda zaandai on NTV," says Kalapana.
Since then, there has been no looking back for her. At 21, Kalpana Shrestha is a well-known name. She has appeared in DJ Yuva´s timilai chahera, Nima Rumba man pani pagal and in other more than two dozen music videos.
Shrestha is also a singer and a rapper.
"For me life has been real easy so far. So, I think I am really lucky," she says smiling. Kalpana recalls how she never had to go asking for work and that she never has filled in any application for jobs.
Kalpana continued zaanda zaandai, a children show for children, for a year and half and then stopped working altogether.
"My School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exam was nearing and I wanted to give studies full time, but after the exam I began working again."
It was then that Kalpana did the serial chhori with the immensely talented maha jodi. The serial she recalls drew much appreciation because it showed the story of an innocent village girl sold in a brothel in India and her escape from it.
"It was a matter of pride for me because the serial had a social message," she says.
The young starlet continued her journey with Miss Teen and won the Miss Intelligent Award in 2008 and also did a show with Channel Nepal alongside modeling in music videos. She has also worked as a newsreader at ABC, a Nepali news channel.
When asked if she wished to work for a Nepali film, she smiles and says, "I´ve received a lot of offers but I think I´m too young. Besides films will demand a lot of time, which could hamper my studies."
Kalpana is totally the opposite of what anyone would normally perceive of a model.
"I´ve never been to a disco," she claims.
Kalpana enjoys spending time with her mom and family, cooking and playing.
Kalpana proudly shows her brown belt that she received for her Karate skills, and the walls around her room are covered with her certificates. "Life´s not always a bed or roses," she says.
She recently lost her father. Now she believes she has to be even stronger and support her mother. "My mother is my encouragement and now that she is alone, I have to give her all the love she needs even from dad´s side," she says.
Kalpana wants to be a professor in the future because she loves literature. "Surely, it´s difficult to survive in this cruel world," she sighs, "however, if you´re on the right path, no harm will be able to defeat you."
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