Niyar and a co-star in a moment from Butterfy Chase

Guwahati, Nov. 3: A little star has risen in the east to bedazzle Bollywood.

Five-year-old Niyar Saikia is set to capture hearts in the role of a deaf and mute girl in Assamese director Jahnu Barua?s second Hindi film, set against the backdrop of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Butterfly Chase, to be released around February, comes in the wake of Barua?s critically acclaimed debut film in Hindi, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara.

A winner of nine national awards, Barua is as excited about his prot?g??s performance in Butterfly Chase as he is about the film itself. ?The role was quite demanding, requiring great sensitivity. Niyar had to essay the part with the help of only sign language and facial expressions,? the director told The Telegraph from Mumbai.

?She has surpassed all expectations. She has all that it takes to be a good actor,? he said.

Niyar, who stays in Guwahati with her parents, was chosen from among 50 aspirants who auditioned for the role. She described the opportunity as a dream come true. ?I had a great time shooting with Barua uncle and a host of other big names of Bollywood. I did the part just as uncle wanted me to,? she said.

A student of Maria Montessori House of Children, Niyar essays the role of a Kashmiri girl, Najma, in Butterfly Chase. The film narrates how her life is intertwined with that of a terrorist.

The film, which is on the editing table, also features Gauri Karnik of Sur fame, Yashpal Sharma from Lagaan?s ensemble cast and model-turned-actor Diwakar Pundit.

Sandesh Sandilya has scored the music for the film, shot in Mumbai and snow-capped Pelling in Sikkim. Like Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, the script is by the director himself. The film has been produced under the banner of Talking Pictures Pvt Ltd.

Before this film, Niyar had acted in several plays and a video album. Having finished shooting for Butterfly Chase, she is now focused on her studies and a new play, Dhunu Moina, that will be staged at the Cuttack Theatre Festival in Orissa in December.

Asked how much her life had changed after working with a filmmaker of Barua?s calibre, Niyar said: ?I get admiring glances from my schoolmates, who have already started calling me Najma.?

Niyar?s father, a businessman, said he would like to see his daughter focus on her studies and act only in select films. ?Offers are pouring in from Bollywood directors, but we are humbly refusing these as it will greatly hamper her education.?

As for Barua, he is already looking looking ahead. The filmmaker has already finished the script for his third Bollywood project, which will hit the floors after the release of Butterfly Chase. ?I prefer to speak through my art. A filmmaker?s job is to make films and let the audience and the critics speak their mind,? he said.