In Conversation With...

Fiji has it all when it comes to creative spaces, art and entertainment. In fact, I had been noticing how more and more Fijians were creating videos using an app that allows you to mime/mimic or act out a song or scene.

But what really got my attention was how extremely talented, natural and spot on with acting songs and scenes out this one girl was and is. She has more than 15k followers on Instagram and 100k on Tiktok.

I am talking about the gorgeous and fiercely talented Desi Diva aka Ramiza Khan. I followed her on Instagram for a while and I kept telling myself that I MUST have a conversation with her and see how this all started.

So here is her story and I hope it inspires you. There is also a video interview that I will be posting up later but in the meantime, have a read.

Where are you from originally?

I am Fiji born and raised. I lived in Talaiya, Ba for 18 years of my life and moved to New Zealand in 2011.

How did these videos start for you?

It all started when the App. Dubsmash was launched. I thought to give it a try since I was “bollywood crazy” all my life, and I actually started to enjoy it. I decided to create a page and a friend of mine gave me the name ‘Desi Diva’. He has been really supportive even when I had very little number of followers.

Why make these videos?

I have always been a happy child, I look for happiness in everything and everyone. I get joy when I see other people happy too, bringing smiles to their faces makes my day. So yeah that’s basically my motive: “Haso aur Hasao” (Laugh and make others laugh)

Is it difficult to do this? It is not as easy as it seems but it’s not that hard either. It takes a lot of effort and retries to get the final result. You gotta be very patient with it and you have to be passionate about it.

Have you faced any trolls or negative responses and how did you deal with it?

Yes. Alot. Especially when that McDonalds video became viral, well thousands of people loved it but there were hundreds who hated it. They called me names, abused me, my family, created dirty memes etc. I was hurt, extremely hurt, hurt to that point that I decided to quit. Later I realised that it is “I” who should matter, and I’ll do what I want to do. So now any negative feedback is positive for me, it pushes me to do better, anyway we all know that “haters gonna hate, biswaas karna lalli” (believe it lalli)

Who inspires you?

To be frank , I don’t think I have any. I learn good bits and pieces from everyone I meet but I don’t have that one perfect human who I can look up to and say this is it. So instead of searching for a role model I became one for myself. I work on myself day and night to become a “better me”.

Your advice to you others?

When you are struggling, people might help you get to the top but they wouldn’t be standing there to catch you when you fall. Face your own problem, grow out of it and most importantly stay humble.

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If you never heard of these apps and what it does, you can read more here. If you want to see videos of hers then check out Desi Diva on Instagram.

In case you were wondering, pictured above is Ramiza with her husband Muzzamil making such a cute pair!

Also, don’t forget, video interview with Desi Diva will out soon!