Dia Mirza recalls ‘hard, terrifying' years of sharing room with her hairdresser to ward off unwanted midnight knocks on door: ‘Had to find a way to survive'

Indian Express

2 days ago

Dia Mirza, who started her film journey as a background dancer in a Tamil film, has had her own share of ups and downs as an outsider in the industry. After winning the title of Miss Asia Pacific International title in 2000, she marked her debut in Hindi cinema with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein, alongside R. Madhavan.
She has often shared losing several films because the opportunities were offered to others with industry backing. In a recent interview, Dia revealed that she had to share her room with her hairdresser to avoid unwanted knocks at night. The actor, whose parents got divorced when she was four and father passed away at nine, also spoke about how female actors in the industry had parents to support them, but she didn't.
During a conversation with Official People Of India, Dia was asked about navigating her path as an outsider in the film industry. 'I'll have to write a book about that someday. There's so much, there are so many layers to that question. But, if I have to be simple, it was hard and terrifying,' she smiled and replied.
She went on to reveal sharing her room for the longest time. 'My hairdresser used to share my room with me for many years to ward off unwanted visitors. It was really hard. I myself look back now and think I don't know how I managed.'
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It was Dia's team that stood strong with her at all times. 'A lot of the women in the industry have always had some parent around. Somebody's father or mother have always been a very active participant in their film career. I never had that. My team – hairdresser, makeup artist, and spotboy were my safety net. Which is why I never changed those technicians and that support group for years,' she said.
The actor continued, 'Prasad anna was my spotboy for all of the years that I worked until he passed away. I lost him during Covid. My hairdresser worked with me for 16-17 years straight, from my first film. That kind of created a safety net for me. We have to find out own ways to survive.'
Talking about how women characters today are better developed by female writers than how men wrote their roles years ago, she said, 'There are so many things that I have done as scenes or the kind of characters that I have played in my earlier films, without even realising how regressive some of that was or how I was being objectified, or how patriarchal the mindset was in the projection of the character. All of that only becomes something that you learn about and become aware of, therefore you can make better choices later.'
On the work front, Dia Mirza was last seen in the Netflix film Nadaaniyan, with Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor.