Saleem Pandit (THE TIMES OF INDIA; July 1, 2019)

Kashmiri actor Zaira Wasim, who rose to prominence with her performances in ‘Dangal’ and ‘Secret Superstar’, on Sunday announced her decision to quit acting in a lengthy Facebook post that said she was dissociating herself from a “work environment” in which “my relationship with my religion was threatened”.

The 18-year-old actor’s secretary Tuhin Mishra, however, suggested that she might not have written the post. “We are trying to find out who has posted about Zaira’s dissociation from the acting field. She has not posted such a statement for sure,” he told TOI. Zaira’s phone was switched off every time TOI tried to contact her.

Zaira had made her acting debut at 16, playing the role of wrestler Geeta Phogat in ‘Dangal’,the film that fetched her a National Award for best supporting actress. Her father is a retired bank manager and mother a schoolteacher.

“Though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here,” says the post on her Facebook page, which she shared on Twitter and Instagram. “Five years ago, I made a decision that changed my life forever...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, especially with regards to my ideas of success and failure, which I had just started to explore and understand.” The post describes how Zaira “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”.

Former Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah didn’t take kindly to criticism of her decision. “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 whatever she does makes her happy,” he tweeted.