Bollywood actress Zaira Wasim's decision to quit films has triggered a hornet's nest, with heated debates on the role of religion on career choices. Zaira Wasim announced on Sunday her decision to quit the film industry saying she was not happy with the line of work as it interfered with her faith.
Former Congress spokesperson who shifted to Shiv Sena, Priyanka Chaturvedi, took to Twitter on Monday to respond to Zaira's decision. Chaturvedi said that while her decision to move out of the film industry is fine, it was unfortunate to hear that Zaira's decision was based on her belief. “Zaira Wasim moving on from film industry is alright and the country wishes her well. To each their own calling. However it was unfortunate to read in her letter that the decision was taken on the basis of her belief that it hinders her to practise her faith,” she wrote.
She went on to say that Hindi cinema has seen many success stories from the same faith.
Chaturvedi criticised Zaira Wasim for making her religion Islam sound intolerant to career choices.
The Dangal actress took to social media and put up a lengthy post about the past five years and how it has “changed her life forever”.
“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.
“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,” Kashmiri-born Zaira wrote. “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 wrote.