Over the last fortnight famed actress Nina Wadia hosted the first BBC Radio 4 appeal to help the fight against human trafficking on behalf of the British Asian Trust. Why does she care so much?
And with an ongoing successful TV career, how has Nina learnt how to live a balanced life?
These are questions we wanted answers for.
With long- term lead roles in TV series EastEnders and Goodness Gracious Me, it’s no surprise that she was approached by the Prince of Wales’s charity, the British Asian Trust, to be its ambassador.
The Trust was founded by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who wanted to do something about the widespread poverty and hardship that he saw in South Asia. He turned to the entrepreneurial spirit of the British Asian diaspora, bringing together visionary philanthropists and supporting grassroots initiatives that enable people to help themselves. The Trust empowers disadvantaged people to transform their lives. Nina was keen to discuss the charity work before turning to anything else.
“In 2007, the Prince of Wales together with his core group of charities decided to set up something specific for the Asian diaspora.
The British Asian Trust collaborates with front line organisations, the private sector and governments to get communities together, to eradicate trafficking and get lives back on track.
£45.00 takes care of a year’s support and counselling for a survivor to overcome trauma and be able to settle back into everyday life. But we are urging people to give whatever they can to work towards anti-trafficking solutions in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka,” said Nina to us before the appeal launch. As an ambassador, she studies reports from the charity about child labour, forced marriage, bride buying, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and sex tourism. She found one story particularly moving.
“Shaheen, 15, was trafficked by her husband into Mumbai’s red light district after she married him. Rescued by the British Asian Trust, she was aggressive and self harming. She had mental health issues brought on by trafficking.
With counselling and support from the BAT, she trained to do a tailoring course. She settled back into her family with her father and reintegrated into the community. The charity has rescued nine and half thousand girls and supported 18.000 families. 70 per cent of the victims are women.”
Background
Nina was born in Mumbai. Her father was an early influence on her career.
“My dad worked with airlines. He was quite a character. He loved acting and movies. Growing up I would sit and watch all these movies with him.”
Next, Nina’s parents moved to Hong Kong and ran a restaurant there. Meanwhile, she was writing sketches for school and college.
“One day when I was doing my A Levels, one of my sketches was meant to be a performance after school. The girl who used to do all the main stuff couldn’t do it. I was the only one who knew all the lines - because I had written them! I performed them and got such a buzz out of it that I decided that this is what I wanted to do for a living,” she explained.
Turning Points
Nina Wadia’s turning point was Goodness Gracious Me, she feels. “I’d been doing theatre for seven years and never got a lead. The closest I got was doing the Scottish play with Mark Rylance. I ended up playing First Witch and understudying Lady Macbeth. EastEnders was my turning point in drama.”
Challenge
The actress says that her biggest challenge is making sure that she is working at a consistent level.
“Sadly when working in TV and film, you have to be in the public eye more than you want to be. My biggest challenge is balancing a career and home life; being a mother and having a family to support.”
Nina’s solution is a practical one. “A lot of red wine (only joking); a lot of good friends as my parents have both passed. Family and friends.”
Solution
To deal with Nina’s extremely busy life, she has had to order her weeks a little better since becoming a mother. “I was very disorganised, but I have become very organised since becoming a mother. I want to be the kind of person that I want my kids to grow up into. I had to change a few bad habits to do this.”
