Dia Mirza says every single actress was told to have a 'certain weight' in early 2000s: 'Aurat ho to shelf life hai'

3 months ago | 35 Views

Dia Mirza is known for often expressing her views on cinema and the film industry. The actor recently spoke about the challenges she faced when she entered Bollywood in the early 90s. Dia, in an interview with Times of India recalled how she was intimidated due to the weight expectations from female actors in the early 2000s.

Dia Mirza on career hardships in early 2000s

Dia, when asked if she was hurt when things didn't work out in Bollywood said, “I was hurt. I was horrified. 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 (You have a shelf life because you are a woman). 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.”

Dia Mirza's acting career

Dia made her acting debut with Govind Menon's Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein. She later acted in films like Dum, Tehzeeb, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Parineeta, Dus, Fight Club – Members Only, Alag, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Sanju, Thappad and Bheed.

The actor recently featured in Anubhav Sinha's thriller series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. The show also featured Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Arvind Swamy, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Aditya Srivastava, Patralekha, Amrita Puri, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Rajiv Thakur and others in pivotal roles.

About IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack

IC 814 is based on the December 24, 1999, hijacking of Indian Airlines IC-814 aircraft by five terrorists, which happened just 40 minutes after the plane took off from Kathmandu. Rajiv plays the hijacker Ibrahim Akhtar alias Chief in the series.

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