I am an atheist, I believe in karma: actress Fatima Sana Shaikh

Mumbai: Bollywood actress Fatima Sana Shaikh in a recent interview revealed that she is an atheist and how she believes only in karma. The actress, who is currently gearing up for two back to back releases in November, also spoke about how she deals with the hatred she is subjected to, on social media.

Fatima Sana Shaikh

Fatima appeared in various Bollywood films and popular television shows, but she rose to fame after she starred in Nitesh Tiwari’s ‘Dangal’ alongside Aamir Khan. She portrayed Indian freestyle wrestler, Geeta Phogat in the film.

Fatima Sana Shaikh appeared as a child artist in films such as Bhamane Satyabhamane and One 2 Ka 4. She has also appeared in many television serials including Best Of Luck NikkiLadies Special, and Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo.

Fatima opens on her religion

Speaking to The Quint, Fatima Sana Shaik opened about religion is important in today’s world and how she is raised by parents of two faiths. “My mom is a Muslim, my dad is a Hindu, and my brother and I are agnostic. I believe in karma,” said Fatima.

Her father, Vipin Sharma is a Hindu and belongs to Jammu, whereas her mother Raj Tabassum is a Muslim lady from Srinagar. As per a few media reports, Fatima Sana Shaikh was born in Hyderabad and brought up in Mumbai, but her family roots are from Jammu.

When asked whether she had experienced any hatred like that of the recent Tanishq advertisement controversy, she said, “There are extremists who exist and they have always been there”. The Tanishq ad, which was telecasted early this month, was taken down as many believed it was promoting inter-faith marriages. 

“Fortunately, I have not had any such experience. In my school, there were kids from all kinds of backgrounds. I have never learnt whether you should give someone their name first or religion first,” she added. “When I was growing up no one asked each others’ religion, caste, class, etc. I didn’t know it was important until now when we see these getting in the way all the time. I feel people have a lot of free time to talk about all this,” says Fatima Sana Shaikh. Check out Fatima Sana Shaik’s interview below:

YouTube video

How Fatima deals with social media hate

Further, Fatima Sana Shaikh also spoke about the hatred and trolls she receives on social media for dressing in a particular way. She also shared that a few of them asked to change her name. “All these things are very common being an actor. You can’t be dealing with hate. You have to ignore or block them,” she said.

Fatima Sana Shaikh will be next seen in Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari and Ludo, both of which will release in November.