Pakistani actors support Alia Bhatt’s ‘I am not a parcel’ comment: ‘I thought this happened only in Pakistan’

Alia Bhatt criticised a news report that said her films were getting affected because of her pregnancy. Pakistani actors Zara Noor Abbas and Durefishan Saleem responded to Alia's reaction, and said they could related to her experience.

Alia Bhatt on Tuesday responded to a news report that claimed the actor would wrap up filming her ongoing projects Heart Of Stone and Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani by mid-July so that her pregnancy does not impact her she work commitments. The report hinted that actor Ranbir Kapoor could travel to the UK to ‘bring his wife home.’ After Alia criticised the report for being ‘archaic’, many celebs rallied behind her with messages of support, including Pakistani actors Zara Noor Abbas and Durefishan Saleem.

Pakistani actors Zara Noor Abbas and Durefishan Saleem showed their support for Alia Bhatt on Instagram.

Sharing Alia Bhatt’s Instagram Stories, where she responded to a report that said she planned her pregnancy in such a way that her work was not affected, Zara and Durefishan said women do not need to prove their motherhood or talent to anyone. Zara, who reportedly had a miscarriage in 2021, wrote on her Instagram Stories that she could relate to Alia’s experience, recounting how brands wanted to drop her after she announced her pregnancy.

Pakistani actors Zara Noor Abbas and Durefishan Saleem reshared Alia Bhatt's Instagram Stories on Tuesday.

"I thought only Pakistan thinks like this, especially when brands wanted to drop me, when they got know I was expecting. Becoming pregnant and being an actress makes the society feel you are not good for work anymore. Well, guess what, women are good enough for everything and anything and it's time the dictators realise so. We don't have to prove our motherhood and craft to any patriarchy," Zara wrote as she shared Alia’s original post.

Durefishan, too, responded to Alia’s reaction, and said people needed to ‘stop telling women’ what to do after their marriage. "We can get married/make babies and still be kick*** fab. Marriage is a part of life, not a halt. Stop telling women that their career goals don't align well with that,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories.

The Instagram post that Alia shared read, “Actress Alia Bhatt took the internet by storm on Monday morning after she announced her first pregnancy. Reportedly, the mommy-to-be will return to Mumbai in mid-July. It is also being reported that Ranbir Kapoor might go to the UK to bring his wife home. According to India Today, Alia will be taking a rest after she returns from her shoot. The report also suggests that the actress planned her pregnancy in a way that doesn't affect any of her commitments. She will be wrapping up her films, 'Heart Of Stone' and 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani' before the end of July.”

Responding to the post, Alia wrote, “Meanwhile we still live in some people's heads. We still live in a patriarchal world. FYI, nothing has gotten delayed. No one needs to pick anyone up. I am a woman, not a parcel. I do not need to rest at all but good to know you'll have a doctor's certification as well. This is 2022. Can we please get out of this archaic way of thinking? Now if you would excuse me. My shot is ready.”

On Monday, Alia announced on Instagram that her and Ranbir were having their first child together. Sharing the couple’s photo from a sonography session, Alia captioned her post, “Our baby... coming soon.” The two married in an intimate wedding in April. Alia and Ranbir will be seen together for the first time in Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra, which is set to be released in theatres on September 9. Another upcoming project of Alia’s, Heart Of Stone, will see her alongside Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan.