Zaira Wasim quits Bollywood

Bollywood actor Zaira Wasim, who rose to fame with her debut film Dangal where she played the onscreen daughter of Aamir Khan, has announced that she has decided to quit Bollywood as she felt her relationship with religion was threatened, reports Hindustan Times. 

Hailing from Kashmir, the 18-year-old went on feature in a solo film after Dangal and she was the main protagonist in Advait Chauhan’s Secret Superstar, presented by Aamir who also made a special appearance in the film.

In a detailed post on her Facebook page, Zaira wrote, “Five years ago I made a decision that changed my life forever. As I stepped my foot in Bollywood, it opened doors of massive popularity for me. I started to become the prime candidate of public attention, I was projected as the gospel of the idea of success and was often identified as a role model for the youth. However, that’s never something that I set out to do or become, especially with regards to my ideas of success and failure, which I had just started to explore and understand. As I complete 5 years today, I want to confess that I am not truly happy with this identity, that is, my line of work. For a very long time now it has felt like I have struggled to become someone else.”

“As I had just started to explore and make sense of the things to which I dedicated my time, efforts and emotions and tried to grab hold of a new lifestyle - it was only for me to realise that though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here. This field indeed brought a lot of love, support, and applause my way, but what it also did was to lead me to a path of ignorance, as I silently and unconsciously transitioned out of ‘Imaan’ (a Muslim’s steadfast path in Allah’s devotion). While I continued to work in an environment that consistently interfered with my Imaan, my relationship with my religion was threatened.”

Even before her debut film released, Zaira faced troubles as she was trolled fore being ‘unislamic’ by acting in a film. After the film released and she bagged the National Award for Best Supporting Actress, she met Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti but later apologised after she was criticised for it.

Zaira has already completed filming Shonali Bose’s The Sky Is Pink that also stars Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar.