Dia Mirza, whose next production is currently being scripted, says she wants to show powerful women in unique stories as they are not depicted enough on screen
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; April 21, 2025)
In the first four months of the year, Dia Mirza had a release in Nadaaniyan, and saw her acclaimed series Kaafir being re-released as a film. But it’s the next step that has her excited about 2025. The actor, who had turned producer with Love Breakups Zindagi in 2011 and has backed two more projects since, is set to return to production after six years.
“The writing [on my next] has been on in full swing. Hopefully, we’ll begin the project soon. I am looking for diversity, representation of powerful, incredible women in unique stories. If nobody is making it, I will make it,” she smiles.
There is no dearth of acting offers for Mirza, but the lack of inspiring parts pinches her. Today, her nos are more frequent, more decisive even. With a 24-year career behind her, she doesn’t feel the compulsion to give her nod to everything that comes her way.
“I came from a humble background and moved to Mumbai at a young age. When you’re seeking financial independence, at that stage of your life, you say yes to everything. It takes a certain kind of security to reach a point where you recognize that you have more than you need, that you can continue to hone your craft and don’t need to say yes to crap,” she says.
Her recent movies reflect not only her career principles, but also her personal activism and ideology. She reflects, “It comes from the understanding that being an artiste is about driving change. I’m perhaps a better actress today as many of my life experiences taught me to empathize more deeply with my characters.”
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Dia Mirza feels that in cinema, offers often disappear for women from the age of 35 to 48, and is glad that OTT has given these actors a new voice
Vishakha Pandit (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 21, 2025)
Actor Dia Mirza Rekhi has a new reason to be happy. Her 2019 web series Kaafir was re-released as a movie recently. Interestingly, it was originally written as a feature film, she shares adding, “As a film is shorter, it is probably more convenient to watch. It also gives the story an opportunity to reach out to a whole new set of people.”
Dia, who is mother to three-year-old Avyaan Azaad Rekhi, played a mum in Kaafir. In this year’s Nadaaniyan as well, she played a doting mother.
Ask if motherhood has influenced her choices in work and she says, “Every single project I have done over the last five years leading to my son’s birth is the kind that I would want him to watch. When choosing stories, I always think, ‘Would I want my child to watch this? What will he gain from it?’”
As she completes 25 years in the industry, Dia is happy that factors such as age, marital status and motherhood are no longer affecting work for female actors. However, she admits that she did face its impact to some extent: “I was beginning to believe that work had dried up as it happens to most women in cinema — from the age of 35 to 48, offers disappear. Then, you get mother’s and sister’s roles. Fortunately, OTT has given a new voice to women. (Actor) Shefali Shah in Delhi Crime is an example of it, and I count Kaafir as one of those, too.”
While she is hopeful about the way ahead, the actor laments a new factor that has come into play — social media following.
“Now, there is a new nonsense — a lot of casting is done looking at an individual’s popularity on social media. It is unfair. Some extremely talented artistes may not be willing to put their voice out on social media, but that doesn’t mean they don’t qualify for a part. This is a new culture gaining prominence globally, too, and it’s terrible,” she ends.