Omar Abdullah Reacts to Zaira Wasim's Exit From Bollywood, Asks Who are Any of Us to Question

On Sunday, Zaira Wasim surprised everybody with her announcement of quitting the film industry. The National Award-winning actress announced her "disassociation" from the field of acting, saying she was not happy with the line of work citing that it interfered with her faith and religion. In a detailed post on her Facebook page, which she later shared across all social media platforms, the Kashmiri-born star said she realised "though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here".

Reacting to the same, former Jammu and Kashmir CM, Omar Abdullah took to Twitter in support of Zaira. He tweeted, "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." (sic)

Former bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal said he respected Wasim's decision and wished her luck.

"I always respected @ZairaWasimmm's decision to be an actor. Perhaps no other Kashmiri has achieved such an iconic status, such success and fame, at such a young age. And today, as she quit the industry, I have no choice but to respect her decision. Wish her luck," Faesal said in a tweet.

Zaira rose to fame with her debut in Aamir Khan's film Dangal (2016). For her spectacular and nuanced performance, she won a number of awards including a Filmfare Award and a National Film Award--National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement by Ram Nath Kovind in 2017. The child actress again proved her acting skills when she took up the lead role in Secret Superstar.

However, completing five years in Bollywood, the 18-year-old actor confessed, that she's not trly happy with her identity and line of work.

"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," Wasim said in the lengthy post.

"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 added.

She went on to say that her profession consistently interfered with her'imaan' and her relationship with her religion was threatened. 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". 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".

Zaira will next be seen in The Sky is Pink, which also stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Farhan Akhtar. The film completed shooting in March.

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