‘Bollywood brought love, but it led me to a path of ignorance’: ‘Dangal’ star Zaira Wasim says goodbye to films

Agencies
June 30, 2019

Srinagar, Jun 30: In a post on her Facebook page, the 'Dangal' fame Zaira Wasim said she realised “though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here”.

National Award-winning actor Zaira Wasim on Sunday announced her “disassociation” from the field of acting, saying she was not happy with the line of work as it interfered with her faith and religion.

Also read: Dangal — nationalism over feminism

In a detailed post on her Facebook page, which she later shared across all social media platforms, the Kashmiri-born Dangal-fame star said she realised “though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here”.

"Not truly happy"

“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," she wrote on Facebook.

“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,” Wasim said in the lengthy post.

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," she wrote.

"Relationship with religion threatened"

“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.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Zaira Wasim (@zairawasim_) on

“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 said she began to heavily rely upon Allah’s mercy for help and guidance instead of valuing her own believability.

“I discovered my lack of knowledge of the basic fundamentals of my religion and how my inability to reinforce a change earlier was a result of confusing my heart’s contentment and well being with strengthening and satisfying my own [shallow and worldly] desires,” she said.

Questioning the meaning of life

The actor, who made her big Bollywood debut opposite superstar Aamir Khan in 2016, said she questioned the deepest sources of her ideas of success, meaning and the purpose of her life.

“The source code that governed and impacted my perceptions evolved into a different dimension. Success isn’t correlated with our biased, delusional and conventional shallow measures of life. Success is the accomplishment of the purpose of our creation. We have forgotten the purpose we were created for as we ignorantly continue to pass through our lives; deceiving our conscience,” she said.

Wasim said the journey has been “exhausting, to battle my soul for so long” and life was too short yet too long to be at war with oneself.

About announcing the decision on social media, the actor said she was openly doing so not to paint a holier picture of herself, but “this is the least I can do to start afresh“.

“This is just my first step as I have arrived at the clarity of realisation of the path I wish to be on and strive for and 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.

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.

Also Read: ‘Keep your views to yourself’: Raveena Tandon blasts Zaira Wasim, calls her 'ungrateful'

Comments

Sheik M. Nasrullah
 - 
Monday, 1 Jul 2019

Al hamdulillah Sister you have taken great Decision,  JazakAllahu khairen May Allah (swt) guide us all on the straight path and prevent us from departing it. 

ABDUL AZIZ SHE…
 - 
Sunday, 30 Jun 2019

ALHAMDULILLAH,  Its a eye opener for myself and all muslims . 

 

FAIRMAN
 - 
Sunday, 30 Jun 2019

The society always looking to wrongs of women not men in the same magnitude.

Is it because women are weaker than men.

 

All men should also show the same spirit.

 

 

Khasai Khane
 - 
Sunday, 30 Jun 2019

Alhamdulillah...She has been saved from immorality. Allah gives guidance to whom He wills.

ahmed ali k
 - 
Sunday, 30 Jun 2019

Eye Opener to all Muslims

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News Network
March 16,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 16: A 23-year-old mobile app developer was arrested on Saturday for allegedly forging the signature of Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty to rope in Telugu actor Vijay Devarakonda as an app’s ambassador.

The arrest of Laveti Sai Krishna alias Krishna ML, a resident of Hyderabad, comes a year after the case was registered. Jayanagar police registered a case against Krishna on February 26, 2019 based on a complaint filed by Lt Col (retd) M Ramesh, representative of Infosys Foundation. The complaint was filed after the forged letter didn’t reach Devarakonda and came back to Infosys Foundation instead.

App developer is a B.Pharma holder

“We conducted an investigation and traced the app designer. We caught him and based on information provided by him, we learnt that Krishna was the brain behind the forged signature,” a senior police officer said.

Krishna confessed that he developed a mobile app — ‘Offer nearby’ — and planned to launch it in a big way. He wanted Telugu actor Vijay Devarakonda to be the app’s brand ambassador and tried contacting him. Krishna, however, was unable to meet Vijay.

Krishna then thought he could easily reach the actor if he sent a recommendation letter in the name of Sudha Murty.

“He forged the letterhead of Infosys Foundation and Sudha Murty’s signature. We are verifying his antecedents to know if he committed any other offence earlier,” said Rohini Sepat-Katoch, DCP (south). Rohini said Krishna is a B.Pharma holder and worked with an advertisement firm. Later, he planned to develop an app that provides details of offers for retail customers. He floated Laveti Technologies, and with help from a friend, developed ‘Offer nearby’.

As per the complaint, Krishna created a fake letterhead in the name of Sudha Murty and wrote to Devarakonda, asking him to become the brand ambassador/ partner for his mobile app. Krishna sent it through SpeedPost mentioning the sender’s address as Infosys Foundation. Krishna’s game was up when the letter, which wasn’t delivered to Devarakonda, came back to Infosys Foundation.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 5: The Karnataka government has asked all its departments and authorities to avoid during all official transactions the nomenclature "Dalit" for members belonging to the Scheduled Castes.

"All the departments and authorities of government of Karnataka are requested that (use of name Dalit) for all official transactions, matters, dealings, certificates, among others," the official circular said.

The Constitutional term Scheduled Caste in English and its appropriate translation in other national languages should alone be used for denoting the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes notified in the presidential orders issued under Article 341 of the Constitution, the circular said.

The circular issued on May 20 notes instructions issued by the Central government in 2018, with reference to the order of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior Bench.

"That the Central government/state government and its functionaries would refrain from using the nomenclature "Dalit" for the members belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as the same does not find mentioned in the Constitution or any statute," the order had said.

Pointing out that the Central government had earlier issued instructions that the words "Harijan" and "Girijan" should not be used, the circular said accordingly the Karnataka government also had issued a Government Order in 2010.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Bosnia, Jul 12: Bosnians commemorated on Saturday the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, marking the 25th anniversary of killings that shocked the world and have stood out as Europe's only atrocity since World War Two constituting genocide.

Nine newly identified victims were buried at a flower-shaped cemetery near the town, where tall white tombstones mark the graves of 6,643 other victims.

"After 25 years we succeeded in finding his mortal remains, so they can be laid to their final rest," said Fikret Pezic, who buried his father Hasan.

The remains of some 1,000 victims of the massacre in the eastern town during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war are still missing.

Ifeta Hasanovic decided to bury incomplete remains of her husband, saying: "We were aware they cannot be complete after 25 years, at least there are some, I did not want to make any new delays."

World leaders addressed the ceremony by video link, unable to attend because of coronavirus epidemic. Instead of the tens of thousands visitors who typically attend the commemoration each year, only a few thousand came after organisers banned organised visits.

During the Bosnian war, Bosnian Serb forces pushed non-Serbs out of territories they sought for their Serb statelet. Fleeing Muslims took shelter in several eastern towns, including Srebrenica, that were designated as United Nations "safe zones".

On July 11, 1995, the Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic overran Srebrenica, which was protected by lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers.

They sent women and children away and captured and executed the men and boys they found. The bodies were dumped into mass graves and later exhumed by U.N. investigators and used as evidence in war crimes trials of Bosnian Serb leaders.

"We grieve with the families that tirelessly seek justice for the 8,000 innocent lives lost, all these years later," said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Washington brokered Bosnia's peace deal months after the massacre.

Most people at the commemoration were Muslim Bosniaks, reflecting conflicting narratives about the bloodshed - which hinders reconciliation nearly 25 years after the end of war in which about 100,000 people were killed.

The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted Mladic and his political chief Radovan Karadzic over Srebrenica genocide but they remained heroes for Serbs, many of whom deny that genocide happened.

On Saturday, the Serbs in the nearby town of Bratunac organised an event marking July 11 as the "Srebrenica Liberation Day".

Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, called for legislation that would ban denial of genocide.

"There can be no trust as long as we witness attacks on the truth, denial of genocide and glorification and celebration of executors," Dzaferovic told the commemoration gathering.

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