A day after actor Zaira Wasim announced her retirement from movies in an Instagram post, her first director, Nitesh Tiwari, has expressed his shock at the decision. The Dangal director has said that Zaira is ‘an extremely talented actress’ but the decision is hers to make.

He told Mid-Day, “I read about it in this afternoon, and it came as a shock to me. This was unexpected, but at the end of the day, it is her life and she has the right to lead it the way she [deems fit].” Tiwari had directed Zaira in the 2016 blockbuster, Dangal. Speaking about her impressive audition tape for Dangal, he continued, “She was chosen for reasons best known to all of us. There’s a sense of loss because Zaira is an extremely talented actress.”

Despite delivering acclaimed performances in her films, Zaira throughout her short career had faced criticism in her personal life, by citizens of her home state, and for her meeting with former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Zaira wrote in her Instagram post that her work in the film industry had pushed her away from her ‘imaan’. She had previously written about being depressed. Tiwari said that they lost touch post the release of Dangal, aside from a couple of meetings around town. He said, “Zaira and I lost touch post Dangal. We briefly met during award shows. Her reasons are best known to her. She must have thought about it and taken the step. None of us has the right to pass judgment on what she has decided.”

The actor still has one release on the docket, director Shonali Bose’s The Sky is Pink, which also stars Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar. The team released a joint statement in the wake of Zaira’s announcement, which read, “Zaira is an exceptional artiste and we are lucky to have had her play Aisha Chaudhury in our film. She has been a complete professional all through the shoot. This is a purely personal decision, which she has taken after much thought and we will support her in every way, now and always.”

On Sunday, actor Raveena Tandon had seemingly slammed Zaira for being ‘ungrateful’. She had written, “Doesn’t matter if two film olds are ungrateful to the industry that have given them all. Just wish they’d exit gracefully and keep their regressive views to themselves.”

Follow @htshowbiz for more

First Published: Jul 01, 2019 09:37 IST