A young award-winning Indian actress Zaira Wasim on Sunday announced she has quit films as it interfered with her religion.
“Five years ago, I made a decision that changed my life forever,” said Wasim who shot to fame with her first film Dangal.
“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,” she wrote in a long post on Facebook.
The 18-year-old said the film industry consistently interfered with her religion.
“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, iman and my relationship with Allah,” she wrote.
“This journey has been exhausting, to battle my soul for so long. Life is too short yet too long to be at war with oneself. Therefore, today I arrive at this well-grounded decision and I officially declare my disassociation with this field.”
“..during this time I may have consciously or unconsciously planted a seed of temptation in the hearts of many but my sincere advice to everyone is that no amount of success, fame, authority or wealth is worth trading or losing your peace or the light of your Imaan for,” she said.
Read her full post:
Wasim’s sudden decision to quit films, after she received numerous accolades, including a Filmfare Award and a National Film Award in her short career, sparked off a debate on social media.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted on Sunday after Wasim’s announcement, saying it was “her life to do with as she pleases”. “Who are we to question her choices?” he asked and wished her the best.
Noted author and feminist Taslima Nasreen called it a 'moronic decision'.
Wasim will be next seen in The Sky is Pink in which she will play a character based on motivational speaker Aisha Choudhary, who has pulmonary fibrosis. The movie stars Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar. Directed by Shonali Bose, the film is scheduled to be released on October 11.
