Newbie Zoya is a Pakistani doctor in Major Ravi movie

Major Ravi’s upcoming war film '1971:

Beyond Borders

' has an ensemble cast, including Telugu actor Allu Sirish and Bollywood hunk Arunoday Singh, besides, of course, Mohanlal.

The latest in the list is actress Zoya Zayed Khan, a North Indian who has been living in Kerala for the past few years. Zoya, however, says that she isn’t a ‘typical heroine’ in the war movie. “I play a Pakistani doctor in it. All the characters are army officers in the film and they are all of equal importance. My portion appears in Mohanlal sir’s character’s flashback. It is not a usual movie with a love angle and background music, it’s more of a historical depiction of events,” she says.

Interestingly, Zoya has Pathani blood in real life too, which proved to be her USP. “My father is originally from Kabul and so I am a Pathani. Perhaps that’s why Ravi sir found my casting apt. He spotted me in a serial, and that is how I got into the film. I have never done a film before, but he trusted in me. He is very strict and doesn’t accept anything but the best. I’m glad that he was happy with my performance.”
And for Zoya, the film is the result of years of hard work. “I have been struggling in this industry for the past 10 years in serials, modelling and anchoring. I feel lucky I finally landed a film, that too with Mohanlal and Arunoday Singh, both of whom I admire. However, I don’t have combination scenes with Mohanlal, and my parts are mostly with Arunoday,” she signs off.