Riz Ahmed's wife said the sweetest things about the actor's first Oscar win

Riz Ahmed bagged his first Oscar at the 94th Academy Award on Sunday and if there's one person who's incredibly proud of the achievement, it's Ahmed's wife.

The actor won an Oscar for The Long Goodbye, a short film directed by Aneil Karia, starring Riz Ahmed and written by both. It was nominated for best live-action short by the Academy.

Ahmed's wife, American novelist Fatima Farheen Mirza, took to Instagram to post the sweetest message. "I don’t know anyone who works as hard as Rizwan," she said. "I’m always stunned by how his every creative choice is grounded in his values, his truth and his heart. The Long Goodbye is a bold depiction of so many of our fears and seeing it on screen, despite how terrifying it is, is also somehow an affirming comfort. So proud of this win and how it expands what’s possible for the rest of us. And as it’s brilliant director, Aneil Karia, said; this is proof to make what you feel you need to make, rather than what you think you should."

In his acceptance speech after accepting the Oscar, 39-year-old Ahmed said that “In such divided times, we believe that the role of story is to remind us there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. There’s just ‘us’. This is for everyone who feels like they don’t belong. Anyone who feels like they’re stuck in no man’s land. You’re not alone. We’ll meet you there. That’s where the future is. Peace.”

The Long Goodbye was meant to be a theatre play with rap but due to the spread of Covid-19, it was turned into an online production. Its story revolves around an immigrant family preparing its home for a wedding celebration in Britain. Things take a turn for the worse when a right-wing march spirals out of control and chaos erupts. The short is blisteringly visceral, harrowingly violent and desperately urgent — all in under 12 minutes.

For the longest time, we had no idea Ahmed was married. Our first glimpse of the actor and his wife was at the 2021 Oscars ceremony, during which the Mogul Mowgli actor was spotted fixing Mirza's hair on the red carpet and winning hearts. At the 93rd Academy Awards, Ahmed was a contender for best actor award for Sound of Metal (and holding ground as the Oscar's first Muslim best actor nominee).

Mirza is author of the New York Times bestselling novel A Place For Us published in 2018.