Bollywood actor Dia Mirzam, who is a model-turned-actor, made her debut in the films with the 2001 film Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein starring alongside R Madhavan and Saif Ali Khan. She witnessed major ups and downs in her career. In her latest interview, she opened up about her early days in the film industry, rampant sexism, and how things have changed over the years.
Speaking to Brut India, Dia Mirza said, “People were writing, thinking and making sexist cinema, and I was a part of these stories. Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein has sexism in it.” She further said how in those days, you wouldn't find too many women crew members or that a makeup artist has to be a man whereas a hairdresser will be a female.
She said, “When I started working in films, there were at best only 4 or 5 women on any given film crew with a unit strength of over 120, sometimes 180 people. There would just never be any female representation on a film crew, so the gender ratio was skewed. Nobody really cared about it. We live in a patriarchal society, and it is an industry that is largely led by men. So there is rampant sexism. And I think for a large part, it is not even conscious sexism because there are so many men who are writers, who are directors, who are actors, who are not even aware of their sexist thinking.”
Dia Mirza admitted that things have changed over the years but in those days, she learnt through the process of being in the industry. “I had no mentor and no one who could guide me or help me understand how to go about consolidating my choices or even making the right choices. I kind of completely and solely depended on instinct and my managers at the time,” she said.
