Zaira Wasim Gets Criticised Because People Think She Doesn’t Realise How Lucky She Is. But She Doesn’t Owe Bollywood Anything!
I belong to a religious Punjabi family. The kind, where every celebration, every feat, every sorrow is shared with god in full faith. There was even a time growing up, I used to pray every single day, and then a time I’d go months by not visiting a temple. Now any of that had no bearing whatsoever on the belief I held for my god or my religion. But seems like, that wasn’t the case with the Dangal actress, Zaira Wasim, who recently announced her disassociation with acting because it interfered with her faith and religion.
Honestly, her personal beliefs should not be our concern. But the internet isn’t taking this lightly.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzUBXYrlsml/?utm_source=ig_embed
In what was a long heartfelt post on Instagram, Zaira Wasim wrote to her followers and to the world, the reason for her stepping back from Bollywood, an industry she thought ‘she fit perfectly in, but didn’t belong to’. She wrote, “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.”
Who are any of us to question @ZairaWasimmm’s choices? It’s her life to do with as she pleases. All I will do is wish her well & hope that what ever she does makes her happy.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 30, 2019
#ZairaWasim is a courageous girl who defied stereotypes & shined through. We must appreciate her courage & stand with her in her moment of crisis @ZairaWasimmm you hv our support . We love you for work you did and your spirit keep it alive. Wish you well and want u to be happy .
— Nagma (@nagma_morarji) June 30, 2019
A lot of people took to twitter to share their mixed opinions for the Dangal actress. While some like Omar Abdullah, Nagma, and others supported her decision to step back and respect her religious beliefs, there were many like Raveena Tandon and Taslima Nasreen who felt it was a setback for every girl belonging to the remote areas of Kashmir and Islam trying to walk out of the conservatism and regressive pressures of the society to adhere to their calling. But if we were to look at it objectively, back in 2017 also, the young actress had mentioned how she did not feel inclined to the line of acting and wasn’t the kind to watch any movies, before she did her debut with Aamir Khan in 2016.
https://twitter.com/TandonRaveena/status/1145327226490982400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1145327226490982400%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hindustantimes.com%2Fbollywood%2Fraveena-tandon-takes-a-dig-at-zaira-wasim-says-just-wish-they-d-keep-their-regressive-views-to-themselves%2Fstory-XGdgMMmboYqW2LLHRCoeGI.html
Oh My Goosebumps! Bollywood’s talented actress Zaria Wasim now wants to quit acting because she thinks her acting career almost destroyed her faith in Allah. What a moronic decision! So many talents in Muslim community are forced to go under the darkness of the burqa.
— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) June 30, 2019
Zaira further mentioned in her post how 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. Sh wrote, “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),”
A journey that according to her was an exhaustive struggle to battle her soul, she said has now come to an end, and the netizens, as are we, left stunned, not to know what to make of it. Of course, some people were annoyed with this and voiced their opinion on an 18-year-old girl’s decision with fiery tweets.
Like Barkha Dutt who said that it’s terrible that a woman is giving up her career.
From me, YES. A woman giving up a career for reasons of religious orthodoxy does not sit well me with me at all. A woman giving up a career is terrible news. To believe your personal GOD will judge you for your job, is even worse news. https://t.co/4UZH39Min7
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) July 1, 2019
But then there were some who were a voice of reason and showed her some much due respect like Soni Razdan.
Having said this I would certainly respect her decision as this business can be hugely overwhelming and often quite frightening. @ZairaWasimmm you’re so young and you may feel differently in 4 years time.. we will welcome you back with open arms sweetheart if that is so ♥️ https://t.co/a1DUSDSEQx
— Soni Razdan (@Soni_Razdan) July 1, 2019
We do respect her conscious decision to step down, as should others, but could this be a stunt to gain publicity for her upcoming movie The Sky Is Pink, alongside of Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar? Or is she really giving up her bright future in acting? As for us, we’ve always felt that religion and profession don’t have to come at the expense of each other, and could co-exist without one being a hindrance to the other. But then again, to each his own.
