JOIN US'Dangal’ girl Zaira Wasim quits films
National Award-winning actress Zaira Wasim, who played wrestler Geeta Phogat in Aamir Khan starrer 'Dangal', on Sunday announced her “disassociation” from the field of acting, saying it interfered with her faith and religion.
In a detailed post on her Facebook page 18-year-old Wasim, aid, “As I complete 5 years today, I want 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,” she said.
The ‘Dangal’ girl, who during her five-year career in the cine world had to face criticism several times back home, said, “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. As I continued to ignorantly pass through while I kept trying to convince myself that what I was doing is okay and isn’t really affecting me, I lost all the Barakat (blessing) from my life. Barakat is word whose meaning isn't just confined to happiness, quantity or blessing, it also focuses on the idea of stability, which is something I struggled with extensively,” Zaira said.
“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 ,” she said.
“Quran and the guidance of Allah’s messenger (PBUH) became the weighing factor in my decision making and reasoning and it has changed my approach to life and it’s meaning. Our desires are a reflection of our morals, our values are an externalization of our internal integrity. Similarly, our relationship with the Quran and Sunnah defines and sets the tone of our relationship with Allah and our religion, our ambitions, purpose and the meaning of life. I carefully questioned the deepest sources of my ideas of success, meaning and the purpose of my life,” she added.
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.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah came out in support of Wasim’s decision. “Who are any of us to question Zaira Wasim's choices? It's her life to do with as she pleases. All I will do is wish her well & hope that whatever she does makes her happy (sic)," he tweeted.