This actor won a National Award at 17, starred in three movies that earned Rs 3000 crore, quit acting at 19: ‘Life is too short yet too long’

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President Pranab Mukherjee presents Best Supporting Actress Zaira Wasim the National Award. (Photo: Express Archive)

While Zaira’s work in the film was critically appreciated, the film’s success in China got her a lot of love. Dangal earned over Rs 370 crore in India, but its global collection, after its China release, was over Rs 2000 crore, making it the most successful film of Aamir Khan’s career.

During an older interview with IANS, Zaira opened up about her journey and revealed how her aunt and school principal convinced her parents to let her audition for the film. “Before Dangal, I had done two ads. I got a call from Mukesh Chhabra (the film’s casting director) to attend an important workshop for a week. I went to Mumbai to attend the workshop. There were a lot of girls who had already done one or more ads or serials, and I had to do some scenes in front of them, so I was like, ‘There is no space for me,’” said Zaira.

She continued, “It was my school principal and my aunt who supported my decision. They both convinced my parents and handled the situation very well.” Zaira’s doubts in getting selected were well founded because casting director Mukesh Chhabra revealed in an earlier conversation with Rediff that they auditioned over 10,000 girls for the four parts in the film.

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Zaira played by Geeta Phogat, while Suhani played Babita Kumari.

After Dangal, Zaira appeared in Secret Superstar, where she had the title role, and was ably supported by Aamir Khan. While the film didn’t break any box office records in the country with a domestic collection of Rs 63.4 crore, its overseas collection grew to Rs 831 crore, thanks to the film’s release in China. Zaira commented on the film’s success during an exclusive chat with SCREEN and said that more than the numbers, it was “important that people all around the world were watching” her film.

“We knew it was a film with a soul, and doing so well is definitely a great feat. To be honest, I don’t get into the business of a film, but for me what’s more important is that so many people across nations got to see and love our film. That’s a bigger achievement for an actor. But I am truly thrilled that the film was appreciated globally,” she said.

Zaira Wasim in a still from Secret Superstar.

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Even Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan had lauded Zaira for her acting chops during a promotional event in Singapore and said, “There’s a very famous quote by a Hollywood personality, ‘Never work with animals and children because they steal the scene away from you, and as an audience, your heart goes out to them.’ These kids are so bright and intelligent. Zaira, for me, if you ask me who is the finest actor in the Hindi film industry today, I would say Zaira. She’s absolutely amazing.”

Zaira then went on to work in The Sky is Pink, where she worked alongside Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra and Rohit Saraf. Here too, Zaira had a prominent part in the film, that was based on the real-life story of Aisha Chaudhary, who suffered from an immune disorder and pulmonary fibrosis. But, this became the last film of the actor.

Zaira Wasim and Rohit Saraf while shooting The Sky is Pink.

In 2019, Zaira shocked everyone by announcing her retirement from acting. She wrote a lengthy post on Facebook and explained to her fans that her job was coming in the way of her imaan (faith), and she could no longer live like that.

A part of her statement read, “This journey has been exhausting, to battle my soul for so long. 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 (film industry). 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. While I continued to work in an environment that consistently interfered with my imaan, my relationship with my religion was threatened.”