'Dangal' Star Zaira Wasim Says Goodbye to Films, Cites Religion as Reason

Mumbai, June 30, 2019:

In a shocking development, the up-and-coming star Zaira Wasim, who wowed audiences debut in Aamir Khan's film 'Dangal' in 2016, has quit Bollywood film Industry merely five years after she broke onto the scene!

Zaira Wasim on Sunday announced her disassociation from the field of acting. She said that she was not happy with the line of work citing that it interfered with her faith and religion.

In a post on her Facebook page, the Kashmiri-born star said she realised "though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here".

This comes as a surprise to many as her spectacular and nuanced performance in 'Dangal' won her a number of awards, including a Filmfare Award and a National Film Award--National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement by Ram Nath Kovind in 2017.

The child actress again proved her acting skills when she took up the lead role in 'Secret Superstar', which is also one of the highest grossing Indian films.

"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," Wasim said in the lengthy post on Facebook.

The 18-year-old actor said as she completed five years in the profession, she wanted to "confess that I am not truly happy with this identity i.e 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' (faith). While I continued to work in an environment that consistently interfered with my 'imaan', my relationship with my religion was threatened," she said.

Wasim said as she continued to "ignorantly pass through" while trying to convince herself that what she was doing was okay and was not really affecting her, "I lost all the 'Barakah' (blessing) from my life".

"I was constantly battling with my soul to reconcile my thoughts and instincts to fix a static picture of my 'imaan' and I failed miserably, not just once but a hundred times... I kept procrastinating by tricking and deluding my conscience into the idea that I know what I am doing doesn't feel right but assumed that I will put an end to this whenever the time feels right and I continued to put myself in a vulnerable position where it was always so easy to succumb to the environment that damaged my peace, 'imaan' and my relationship with Allah (God)," she said.

Talking about her life as an actor, she said she continued to observe things and twist her perceptions as she wanted them to be, without really understanding that the key was to see them as they were.

"In the great and divine wisdom of the Quran, I found sufficiency and peace. Indeed the hearts find peace when it acquires the knowledge of Its Creator, His Attributes, His Mercy and His commandments," she added.

Wasim has said that she began to heavily rely upon Allah's mercy for help and guidance instead of valuing her own believability.

Wasim will next be seen in The Sky is Pink, which also stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Farhan Akhtar. The film completed shooting in March.

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