Zaira Wasim

Zaira Wasim was born on 23 October 2000[3][4] to a Muslim family in downtown Srinagar to Zahid and Zarqa Wasim. Her father works as an Executive Manager at J&K Bank, Srinagar and her mother is a teacher. Zaira completed tenth grade from St. Paul's International Academy in Sonwar, Srinagar.[5][6]

Wasim at Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas's wedding reception

In June 2015, Wasim was signed by director Nitesh Tiwari to make her film debut with the biographical sports film Dangal (2016). Principal photography of the film began in September 2015 and she finished her part in December the same year. The film, which narrated the story of pehlwani amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) who trains his two daughters Geeta (Wasim) and Babita (Suhani Bhatnagar) to become India's first world class female wrestlers, received positive reviews from critics and emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of all time, earning more than ₹20 billion ($300 million ) worldwide. For her performance, Wasim received positive comments as well as several awards, including the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress and a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

The following year, Wasim found her breakthrough role in Advait Chandan's directorial debut Secret Superstar (2017), a musical drama about the story of Insia Malik (Wasim), a 15-year-old teenager who aspires to be a singer. Co-starring with Aamir Khan, Meher Vij, and Raj Arjun, Wasim garnered critical acclaim for her performance and the film eventually emerged as her second consecutive release to earn over ₹9 billion (US$130 million) worldwide, becoming the third highest-grossing Indian film (after Dangal and the 2015 film Bajrangi Bhaijaan) and the highest-grossing Indian film featuring a female protagonist. In addition to several other accolades for the film, Wasim won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress and received her first nomination for the Filmfare Best Actress Award. In November 2017, politician Ram Nath Kovind, the President of India, honoured her with the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement, for her performances in both Dangal and Secret Superstar.

As of March 2019, Wasim has completed shooting for her next film The Sky Is Pink, the biopic of motivational speaker Aisha Chaudhary, a 19-year-old girl who died from pulmonary fibrosis. Co-starring Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar, the film was released in India on 11 October 2019.

On 30 June 2019, Wasim announced she would be leaving her acting career because it conflicted with her religious beliefs.[7][8]

In 2016, publicity photos of Wasim surfaced showing her with trimmed hair for her role in the film Dangal. This resulted in her being trolled online for having been "un-Islamic" by acting in a film. In January 2017, a local news organisation published the news and photos of her meeting with then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. This resulted in further criticism and Wasim receiving death threats[9] because Mufti had described Wasim as a "Kashmiri role model". In response, Zaira issued an apology on her Facebook and Instagram account which she deleted shortly after. But not before the message was picked up and publicised by news media which added further fuel to the controversy. Subsequently, several Indian celebrities have voiced their support for Wasim, denouncing her critics.[10][11]

In January 2017, Indian sports minister Vijay Goel tweeted a message "Our daughters are breaking out of their cages and moving forward", accompanied by a photo of him standing before a painting depicting two women – one in a hijab and another cowering in a cage. Wasim responded to Goel requesting him not to connect her to "such a discourteous depiction" and that women in hijab were "beautiful and free". Goel responded saying that she had misinterpreted his tweet, he appreciated Wasim's work and meant to discourage "evil and patriarchal notions".[12]

In December 2017, Wasim alleged that she had been harassed mid-air on an Air Vistara flight UK981 between Delhi and Mumbai. She posted a series of messages on her Instagram profile alleging that a man sitting behind her on the flight had caressed her neck while she was asleep. She also wrote that she had tried to record what the man was doing, but failed due to dim lights. The airline issued an apology on the issue and released a statement saying that a detailed investigation would be conducted. The accused, Vikas Sachdeva of Chandivli in Mumbai was subsequently arrested and charged under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), given Wasim was a legal minor. The accused's wife claimed her husband had been resting when his leg accidentally touched Wasim and that he had apologised before getting off the plane at the Mumbai airport, which the actress had acknowledged. The suspect has been placed in judicial custody pending a court hearing.[13][14] There has been support for the accused in the form of a signature-campaign by his neighbours and on social pages with pages like ‘Justice for Vikas Sachdeva’.[15] Wasim subsequently became a target of internet trolling, which has been criticised by the Mumbai Police, stating in a tweet, "It is the Constitutional right of every victim to report sexual abuse and it is our duty to take cognizance, investigate & facilitate justice. Kindly refrain from being judgmental and #Respect the Right of a Victim of a Sexual Assault".[16] In a statement included with the tweet, the Mumbai Police also stated, "Our action against the accused is backed by sufficient evidence against him and it has been under the scrutiny by the court of law."[17] In January 2020, the accused was found guilty of molesting Wasim and was sentenced to three years in prison.[18] On appeal by the accused in the Bombay High Court, the sentence was suspended until his appeal is fully heard and decided.[19][20]

On May 2020, Wasim quoted from the Quran after the locust attacks in parts of the country. In her now-deleted tweet, Wasim quoted the verse, “So We sent upon them the flood and locusts and lice and frogs and blood: Signs openly self-explained: but they were steeped in arrogance- a people given to sin -Qur’an 7:133 (sic).” Soon after, netizens trolled her, brutally alleging that she was justifying a heinous environmental crisis using religious text. Some criticised her for being insensitive to the loss of human lives. Following the backlash, she disabled her social media accounts and resumed back after a short period of time.[21]

National Film Awards

Filmfare Awards

International Indian Film Academy Awards

Star Screen Awards

Zee Cine Awards

National Child Awards

News 18 Movie Awards

Big Zee Entertainment Awards

Lux Golden Rose Awards

Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zaira Wasim.

• Zaira Wasim at IMDb
• Zaira Wasim at Bollywood Hungama
• Zaira Wasim on Facebook