Dia Mirza recalls 'terrifying' times in Bollywood, pressure on actresses during 2000s: 'Aurat ho toh aapki...'

Dia Mirza made her grand debut in Gautham Menon directed Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein and even though the film flopped at the box office, the actress's performance was much appreciated by the audience. In a recent interview, the actress opened up on how the industry has evolved for the actresses over the years and recalled being 'terrified' in her initial days in the industry. 

In an interview with Times of India, Dia Mirza recalled a time when she entered Bollywood and a few of her films didn't work. She said, "I was hurt. I was terrified. I was intimidated. I was filled with fears because that's what was fed to us by the media, by the industry. Aurat ho, toh aapki shelf life hoti hai. Be in your 20s. You will not be cast with the stars. The male superstars need you to be a certain age. You have to look a certain way. You have to be a certain weight. Every single actress who came into the industry in the early 2000s was told that you have to be a certain weight. You have to look a certain way. You have to be single." 

When asked if the industry has taken a 360-degree turn now, Dia Mirza said, "Yeah, I think people have realized that this is a job. It's not our whole identity. It's one of the things we do in life. It's not everything. Yes, we're passionate about it. Yes, we love what we do. But this can't control our very being. This can't define every choice that we make. Whether to become a parent or not to become a parent. Whether to get married or not to get married. I mean, how can the job you do determine and dictate all these things for you? But this is a reality for a woman in every workforce. I know how women in corporate India also struggle with this. People don't hire women who they think are going to get married." 

Meanwhile, Dia Mirza is currently seen in Anubhav Sinha's series IC 814. The film also stars Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, and Kumud Mishra among others in key roles. The film is based on the Kandahar attack and landed into controversy upon release over “Hindu names” used as aliases by the Pakistani terrorists involved in the hijacking.

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