This Bollywood star gave big hits that earned Rs 3000 crore, once faced molestation; quit acting at 18, was fed up of...

It isn’t easy to break into Bollywood. Many struggle for years to get that one breakthrough. So, it does come as a surprise when someone who has made it and is getting good roles decides to walk away from it all. Many have chosen to do this, but few have done it as early and as suddenly as Zaira Wasim. The actress began her career as a teenager with the hugely successful Dangal. But barely three years later, she had done her final film.

Zaira Wasim’s dream Bollywood start

Zaira Wasim was 15 when she made her film debut with Dangal, the Aamir Khan-starrer biopic of the Phogat sisters. Zaira played a young Geeta Phogat in the film. Upon release, Dangal went on to be the highest-grossing Indian film of all time, grossing an unprecedented Rs 2000 crore worldwide. No other Hindi film had even crossed Rs 1000 crore at the time. The following year, Zaira starred in Secret Superstar, a coming-of-age musical. The film grossed Rs 915 crore and remains the highest-grossing female-led Indian film of all time.

Zaira Wasim’s molestation controversy

In December 2017, the then 17-year-old Zaira accused a co-passenger on her Vistara flight of touching her inappropriately. The actress was flying between Delhi and Mumbai and she alleged that the man sitting behind her caressed her neck with his feet. She claimed she could not record it due to dim cabin lights. After Zaira’s complaint, the airline opened an investigation.

Later, the accused Vikas Sachdeva was arrested and charged under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Sachdeva’s wife claimed that her husband was innocent and he accidentally touched Zaira after he dozed off on the flight. She even said that they had issued an apology to the actress who had accepted it. Following this, Zaira was trolled online and accused of faking the case. In January 2020, the accused was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. The Bombay High Court suspended the sentence on an appeal from the accused.

Why Zaira Wasim left Bollywood at age 18

In 2019, Zaira completed the shoot of her third film – The Sky Is Pink. The film starred her as the terminally ill social media influencer and motivational speaker Aisha Chaudhary with Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar portraying her parents. In June, months before the film’s release, Zaira announced her retirement from acting, saying that an acting career conflicted with her religious beliefs. She said she could not, in all conscience, continue doing the work she was as it was not in line with her faith. The film, which eventually released in September, was to be her last on screen appearance.