Dawn Images

Actor Yasra Rizvi is no stranger to criticism. Churails garnered more than its share of hate, with many taking offence to Rizvi's character ‘Jugnu’, an uber rich woman with with racist tendencies, alcohol dependency and abandonment issues.

Now with Dunk, the problems with which we have already discussed, she has landed in the middle of another controversy.

As the first episode aired this week, audiences were conflicted about their opinion of the actor, calling her out for choosing to be a part of a show like Dunk, which Fahad Mustafa has deemed to be a tribute to those 'wrongly accused of sexual harassment', after a feminist powerhouse of a performance in Asim Abbasi's Churails.

Responding to critics, Rizvi said people don't "really know" who she was or even her work.

"Many saw Jugnu as a drunkard druggie who was selling behayai in the name of women empowerment and many think Saira [from Dunk] will cause serious negative repercussions for harassment victims because she is a character in a story about false allegations," said Yasra.

"No one really knows who I am and what I do every day, how I work, what I truly believe in. Many haven't watched Churails or will not watch all the 20 something episodes of Dunk, many don't know anything about my body of work and its detail to really understand what is it that I even stand for," she added.

"But everyone gets to talk because I am out there doing my thing, so talk away! Cheers to that!"

Coming to Rizvi's defence was Mansha Pasha, who stood her ground in support of the Churails actor and called out audiences for bullying Rizvi. "Actors aren't supposed to be your eco chambers," she schooled in return.

She called Rizvi a fantastic actress and said she should be celebrated for her diverse work.