Who Is Imanvi Esmail? Prabhas' Fauji Co-Star Reacts To Rumours Linking Her Family To Pakistan, "I Am A...."

Imanvi Esmail Latest Post: Imanvi Esmail has been under scrutiny after the Pahalgam terror attack took place on April 22, 2025, which claimed the lives of 26 innocent civilians. The heinous act was conducted by Pakistan-based terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, after which Pakistani celebrities and films featuring them were slammed and boycotted by the netizens. Amid this, Imanvi has garnered negative limelight for allegedly being tied to Pakistani roots. The internet has also claimed that her family is tied to the Pakistani military, after which Prabhas' upcoming film, in which Imanvi plays a key role, fell for the boycott trend.

Who Is Imanvi Esmail?

Imanvi Esmail, whose real name is Iman Iqbal Esmail, is a Muslim actress who is gearing up to share screen with Baahubali-fame Prabhas. The actress is reportedly from Karachi, Pakistan. The reports further reveal that the actress is the daughter of a former Pakistani Military Officer. Netizens have also pointed out that the actress initially had both Indian and Pakistani flags in her Instagram bio while the actress claimed that she is half Pakistani and half Indian.

The 29-year-old actress is also an excellent dancer having a large fan base with 885k followers on Instagram and 1.9 million subscribers on Youtube. The actress rose to fame after her appearance in Dulquer Salmaan & Mrunal Thakur starrer Sita Ramam, after which the actress bagged the role for the upcoming movie Fauji.

Imanvi Esmail Shares Clarification Post

After the constant backlash, Imanvi shared a post on the recent incident taking to her Instagram, "First and foremost, I want to express my most sincere and heartfelt condolences for the tragic event that took place in Pahalgam. My heart goes out to all those who lost their lives and their loved ones. Any loss of innocent life is tragic and weighs heavy on my heart. I strongly condemn the violent acts. As someone whose mission has always been to spread light and love through art, I hope to see a day soon where we can all come together as one."

She claimed that the false narratives and rumours are spread while clarifying about the same, "I also want to address rumours and lies that have been falsely spread about my family and my identity via fake news sources and online media in order to create division and spread hate. Firstly, nobody in my family has ever been or is currently associated with the Pakistani military in any way. This and multiple other falsehoods have been fabricated by online trolls for the sole purpose of spreading hate. What is especially disappointing is that legitimate news outlets, journalists and those on social media failed to investigate their source material and instead have simply repeated these slanderous statements."

In the post, she claimed that she is a 'proud American-Indian', "I am a proud Indian American who speaks Hindi, Telugu, Gujarati and English. I was born in Los Angeles, California after my parents legally immigrated to the United States as youth. Soon after they became American citizens. Upon completing my university education in the USA, I pursued a career in the arts as an actor, choreographer and dancer. After much work in this realm, I am much grateful to receive opportunities to work in the Indian film industry. The same film industry has been a great influence in my life, and I hope to add to the incredible legacy of the trailblazers that came before me. As someone who has Indian identity and culture running deep in my blood, I hope to use this medium as a form of unity and divisiveness," she wrote.

She concluded the note saying, "I will work hard to ensure that this legacy carries on through my work and uplifts the experiences of my Indian heritage. Lots of love, Imanvi."