It’s a very tough time; a lot of people are suffering: Fatima Sana Shaikh

Whether it's packing home-cookd food for the needy, feeding the strays, or raising awareness about the plight of 'waste warriors' in the hills — actor Fatima Sana Shaikh is extending support in whatever possible ways she can during the Covid-19 crisis. She urges that in times like these, people need to step out and unite for the larger good.

Talking about how she's making sure the help reaches the right people, the actor says, "There's an NGO I've come across. You can pack meals (at home) and the NGO people come and pick the packets and deliver it to the people in need. We're also feeding the stray animals around the area I stay." 

The actor is also harnessing the power of social media to spread awareness about raising help for not just daily wage workers in the film industry, but also for a group called Waste Warriors, which is an NGO for people who clean up the mountains in Dharamsala, Himachal. Shaikh notes how "the lockdown has made their already difficult life very unbearable", and that the post garnered a good response, couldn't have made her happier.

"It's a very tough time and a lot of people are suffering. During such times, we should come together and do our bit," adds the actor, who's spending time with family, besides cooking and cleaning. And that's where she's drawing positivity from amid the lockdown, which recently entered its third phase.

"As a family, we joke around and laugh a lot together, and that helps us stay positive. We're taking precautions and keeping everything sanitised," shares Shaikh, who's also reading, watching a lot of films and getting back to her love for sketching. 

Career wise, the 29-year-old has been cautious. After her much successful Dangal (2016), she took a two-year-gap to do her second film Thugs of Hindostan, which didn't set the cash registers ringing. It was painful for Shaikh, but she's all set to come back with Ludo and Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari. However, now due to this crisis, things will take time to roll. But, she's being patient and looking forward to work.

Along and all the way, there have been learnings.

Shaikh elaborates, "In Dangal, we weren't conventional. So I was looking for something different in my next — that would reveal a different side of me as performer rather than the audience seeing me as Geeta (her character in Dangal). At that time, TOH came in like a perfect set-up. That it didn't work is a different thing altogether. Now, we're dealing with something like corona. So, from an extreme high to an extreme low, I've experienced both these aspects closely quite early on, and honestly, I feel that they're equally important."