DIA MIRZA SAYS FEMALE ACTORS WEREN’T CONSIDERED ‘INTELLIGENT’ EARLIER, RECALLS TURNING DOWN FILM WITH A SUPERSTAR: ‘THEY SAID HOW CAN YOU SAY NO, IT HAS 6 SONGS’
Dia Mirza talks about doing credible work on her 40s and finally finding her groove. (Photo: Dia Mirza/Instagram)
Can Dia Mirza watch her old films? The actor, who has been working in the Hindi film industry for over two decades, says she is "embarrassed" to watch her performances in the early phase of her career, which was also the time she was trying to "find" her voice and learning to make space in an industry which wasn't interested in treating female actors as intelligent.
Dia made her Bollywood debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein in 2001 and went on to star in several mid-sized movies, which didn't quite benefit the actor other than making her a constant big screen face.
In an interview with Indianexpress.com, when asked how she looks back at her earlier works, Dia said, "Oh my God, I am embarrassed! I truly am. There was something there, but I was struggling to even find my own voice. I wasn't clear who I was." The actor, who currently stars in the Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, said she started working quite young and didn't have any formal education in acting, which is why most of her learning was on the job.
"At the time I came to the film business, there was no method to the madness. Scenes would be stuck under our noses, minutes before we had to perform them. There was no preparatory process. Also, women weren't accorded intelligence. You weren't treated as entities who had the capacity to think, and therefore feel and thereby respond.
"You were more window dressing, a function of a bigger plan, an accessory. I remember this thing as a joke, it was deeply offending when I think about it now, but I had laughed it off, when I said no to a film and was told, 'How can you say no to the film? It is with a superstar, and it has six songs in it!'"
Dia Mirza talks about her career. (Photo: Instagram)
The actor started transforming in the second half of last decade, where she headlined meatier parts in projects like Rajkumar Hirani's Sanju, Anubhav Sinha's Thappad, Taapse Pannu-backed Dhak Dhak and her show Kaafir. If grittier work didn't come her way, the former Miss India said, was because of her looks.
"You are also stereotyped because of the way you look. So, I may not look like I belong in an Anurag Kashyap film, but my mind and heart belong in an Anurag Kashyap film! The larger point being, it takes time to shed the baggage that the industry awards you with. I am much more than this and am going to push myself.
"In my 20s if you had told me that I would play some of the most exciting parts in my 40s, I would have never believed you. I do feel I am in a sweet spot right now, because I have the privilege to say no to something I don't believe in and fortunately enough, the people I respect, are finding me. Do I still feel I am underutilised? One hundred percent yes, that's the greedy artiste in me. Hopefully that will never be satiated," she added.
She is currently seen in Anubhav Sinha's IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack which also stars actors Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Patralekhaa, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa and Pooja Gor.
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2024-09-12T03:46:54Z dg43tfdfdgfd