IT can’t be easy growing up in the shadow of one of the hottest and most famous singers in the world.
So it’s little wonder that there’s a touch of sibling rivalry between and her younger sister, aspiring actress Rina.
A source close to the family says: “Not many people know what it’s like to have a pop superstar as an older sister.
“It has without a doubt got its perks but constantly being in her shadow would take its toll on anyone. But it’s made her more determined than ever to be her own person.”;
Rina was just 16 when her sister hit the big time, and since then Dua has continued her meteoric rise, landing covers and aplenty, not to mention an equally gorgeous .
Behind the scenes though, Rina has been working just as hard – and is determined to make a name for herself, independent of Dua.
As well as gracing the pages of Vogue, she’s already got her own fan pages, a whopping 1 million followers, and just last week was spotted rubbing shoulders with at Miu Miu’s party.
Growing up in London, then their parents’ native , which they moved to when she was six, Rina has said she “worshipped”; Dua. The move meant the sisters and their brother Gjin formed an incredibly tight bond as they navigated life in another country.
When Dua was 15, however, she begged her family to let her move back to the UK to embark on a singing career.
It wasn’t a decision they took lightly and while Dua was chasing her dreams, Rina’s formative teenage years were spent mostly without her big sister around.
“She was young, but she was mature, she was ready. My parents didn’t let her go easily — it was all done in a very controlled way,”; Rina has said of that time.
“She had to get back at certain times and she lived with a family friend. But it was hard. I missed her. She worked very, very hard. I really looked up to her for that and I do to this day.”;
By the time the family had reunited in the UK, Dua was well on her way to fame – and Rinahad her own plan.
With jet black hair, an enviable figure, and distinctive, different-coloured eyes (one brown, and one blue), she signed a modelling contract while still in school and, like many Gen Zs, fell into influencing.
An insider said: “Rina has of course always really admired her sister but has had times felt that pressure of having such a successful sibling.
“She has also made it clear she wants to do things off her own back – she is grateful for the opportunities that have come her way because of Dua but she believes she would have made it on her own.”;
Now, Rina – who attended the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School, which has made the likes of and Nicholas Hoult, on Saturdays – has her heart set on becoming a successful actress.
When she was 18, she vowed: “I think Rina will be everywhere. My plan is to go forward with my acting and do that and really focus on that.
“I feel like a big budget film is the dream and going to your premiere in Leicester Square, but also I think a series would be really fun.”;
Fast forward to this year, and Rina has appeared in short films The End of Love and Midpoint, and is set to make her feature film debut in Expectations – a contemporary adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.
“Performing, being on stage, being in front of the camera — I knew that was what I wanted to do. I like to talk a lot,”; she has said.
It’s yet to be the glitzy career she had hoped for onscreen, but her popularity online is ever growing, though still falls well short of Dua’s 87 million followers.
Aspiring to the dizzy heights of fame enjoyed by Dua, Rina gushed: “Dua’s my biggest teacher and I’m so in awe of her work ethic.”;
Whether she manages to reach similar heights, though, is yet to be seen.
