- Dia Mirza debuted in Bollywood with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein 25 years ago
- The film initially failed at the box office despite later cult status
- She faced industry stigma as bad luck after several underperforming films
Actor Dia Mirza, who made her Bollywood debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein 25 years ago, has spoken candidly about the challenges she faced early in her career, including being labelled "unlucky" by the industry.
What's Happening
- Although Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein went on to gain cult status over the years, its initial box office failure was followed by several underperforming projects, impacting how she was perceived professionally.
- Reflecting on that phase, Dia said, "I feel I managed to defy everybody's idea of me and create my own. When I started off, there were all these comparisons with Aishwarya Rai. I remember being an impediment to access an opportunity. Then box office failures of my so-called big films-and how it in turn renders you jobless, because people who were otherwise queuing up to sign you suddenly perceive you as a panauti, bad luck. I have been through all of that."
- Despite the setbacks, she noted that her performances were often appreciated by critics.
- "If you go back and read some of the reviews from my first five years in films, you see critics saying 'deserves more', 'underutilised', 'not getting her due'."
Dia Mirza On Taking A Break From Work
Dia also opened up about taking a break from work at a young age after a personal loss. "I took a sabbatical at the age of 24 when I lost my adoptive father. I was like something is wrong here. I am working hard, I am doing my best, but people's expectations of me aren't matching what is happening to me."
A turning point in her career came when she reached out directly to filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani during the casting of Sanju.
"There has always been this desire to do more, and I think it's only in the last decade, post Sanju. I remember the phone call I made to Rajkumar Hirani when he was casting the film. I had already done Lage Raho Munna Bhai with him and I said, 'please give me work, please, I have no work and I am struggling to find an opportunity to get a foothold, nobody is giving me jobs. You are doing this film and I promise I will do a screen test, whatever you want, but please give me the job.'"
She added, "And he said, 'let me talk to Ranbir Kapoor and the rest of the team and get back. There is something which I think you may be good for.' And I played Manyata, Sanjay Dutt's wife. It was a lifesaver."
Before Sanju, Dia had also ventured into production with films like Love Breakups Zindagi and Bobby Jasoos. Speaking about that phase, she said, "After I started producing with Love Breakups Zindagi followed by Bobby Jasoos, in which I didn't cast myself-we cast Vidya Balan-I don't know what it was. Whether it was a combination of 'oh, she is producing films so she doesn't want to act' or that they had other choices, I don't know. But I wasn't getting work."
The success of Sanju marked a shift in her career trajectory. "Sanju happened and it gave me a lease of life. Then Siddharth P. Malhotra, who is a producer, called me for Kaafir-and that really created a huge dimensional shift for me. That part and that story changed my life in so many ways."
Dia Mirza was most recently seen in Nadaaniyan, alongside Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor, and in the web series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack.
