These 10 Actresses Ruled Bollywood While Zaira Wasim Decided To Quit Films In Just 5 Years

Eighteen-year-old Zaira Wasim, who had debuted with Aamir Khan's critically acclaimed Dangal, has declared her intent of quitting the film industry. She has bagged a National Film Award for best-supporting actress. The Kashmiri born actor, who also received accolades for her portrayal of an aspiring singer in the musical drama Secret Superstar (2017), took to her Facebook account to reveal the decision. However, the reasons cited by Zaira have taken social media by storm. The young actor said that she is quitting Bollywood because it made her stray away from the path of her religion.

Taking to social media, Wasim wrote that five years ago she had made a decision that changed her 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.” The young actor, however, felt that it was not something she “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 actor continued that as she completes five years in the industry, “I want to confess that I am not truly happy with this identity i.e my line of work.”

Elaborating further, she wrote, “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," adding, "While I continued to work in an environment that consistently interfered with my imaan, my relationship with my religion was threatened."

Elaborating upon her decision, the 18-year-old actor further confessed on her Facebook page, "No matter how hard I tried to wrestle to firm my decision, I ended up being the same person with a motive that one day I will change and I will change soon. 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 further wrote, “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. 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. “And That the hearts of those who don’t believe in the hereafter, may incline to it (the deception) and that they may be well pleased with it and that they may earn what they are going to earn, (and it’ll be evil). [Quran 6:113]”

The actor further confessed that for her, the “journey has been exhausting,” adding, “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.”

Wasim reassured that the reason she is doing what she is doing is not paint a holier picture of herself, but rather, “the least I can do to start afresh and 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.”

The biggest question being raised is why is Zaira citing religion to be the reason for her quitting Bollywood when there have been several successful muslim actresses across generations. This includes times when working in films was not considered to be a noble profession and yet several women from Muslim families, not only worked in films but ruled the industry as well, not only showing their talent but showcasing immense fortitude as well. Here are a few examples:

Madhubala

The actress won many a hearts with her beauty and grace. She ruled the silver screen during the fifties and sixties. Her real name was Mumtaaz Begum but she changed it to Madhubala on foraying into films.

Meena Kumari

Often called the tragedy queen of Indian cinema, Meena Kumari lived in the hearts of people with the virtue of her beauty and acting prowess.

Meena Kumari's real name was Mahajabeen, but she changed it after joining films. Meena Kumari remained Bollywood's top actress in the 50s and 60s.

Nargis

Nargis, who attained immortality with the cult classic Mother India, gave Bollywood a number is successful films. Nargis was one of Bollywood's most hit actresses.

Waheeda Rehman

Waheeda Rehman is known for her performance in Telugu and Tamil, Hindi and Bengali films. Waheeda Rahman is one of the finest actresses in Hindi cinema during the fifties to the seventies and even in late 2000.

Zeenat Aman

Zeenat Aman is the first Bollywood actress to be known for her beauty and boldness, being instrumental in changing how Bollywood portrayed women during the 70s and 80s. With movies like Satyam Shivam Sundaram, she proved that women too can be bold and beautiful.

Tabu

Born as Tabassum Fatima Mansur Khan, Tabu is known for her films - Vijaypath, Haqeeqat, Maachis, Cheeni Kum, Haider, Drishyam, Andhadhun among others.

Aditi Rao Hydari

Aditi Rao Hydari is the great-granddaughter of Akbar Hydari, former Prime Minister of Hyderabad state (colonial India) and grand niece of Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari, former Governor of Assam. She started her career in films from a Tamil film Sringaram.

Aditi made her debut in Bollywood in 2009 with the film Delhi 6 but she gained popularity from the film Yeh Saali Zindagi. For this film, she bagged the screen award for best supporting actress.

Huma Qureshi

Huma Qureshi, who made her debut at the Cannes International Film Festival 2019, is known for her bold roles that she has played in Bollywood. Her roles in Gangs of Wasseypur, Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, Dedh Ishqiya, Badlapur among others.

Zareen Khan

Apart from Bollywood, Indian actress and model Zareen Khan is known for her stunning performance in Punjabi and Tamil films too. She made her debut in Bollywood in 2010 opposite Salman Khan in the film Veer. Zareen is known for having resemblence with Katrina Kaif.

Fatima Sana Shaikh

Fatima Sana Shaikh is one of the leading actresses in Bollywood. Fatima who began her career in the industry as a child artist in the 1997 film Chachi 420, left viewers amazed by her stunning performance in Dangal and Thugs of Hindostan.