Diya Mirza
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Dia Mirza Rekhi (born Dia Handrich; 9 December 1981) is an Indian actress who primarily works in
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
films. She won the title of
Miss Asia Pacific International Miss Asia Pacific International is one of the oldest international beauty pageants, based in Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1965 as Miss Asia and later renamed Miss Asia Pacific in 1984, followed by Miss Asia Pacific Quest in 1985 when L ...
in 2000 after being crowned
Femina Miss India Miss India, also known as Femina Miss India, is a national beauty pageant in India that selects representatives to compete in the Miss World competition, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It is organized by ''Femina (India), F ...
Asia Pacific 2000. Mirza made her acting debut with the Hindi film ''
Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein ''Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein'' (), also known by the initialism ''RHTDM'', is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring R. Madhavan, Saif Ali Khan and Dia Mirza in the lead roles. ...
'' (2001), which earned her the
Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut The Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut (previously known as Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year) is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films to recognise a performance by a female actor in their deb ...
nomination. Mirza went onto featured in films including ''
Dus ''Dus'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Anubhav Sinha, based on the lives of seven fictional SIT (Indian Special Investigation) officers. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Zayed Khan, Sh ...
'' (2005), '' Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (2006), '' Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.'' (2007), ''
Shootout at Lokhandwala ''Shootout at Lokhandwala'' is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Apoorva Lakhia and produced by Sanjay Gupta, and Ekta Kapoor. Based on the 1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout, a real-life gun battle bet ...
'' (2007), '' Kurbaan'' (2009), ''
Sanju ''Sanju'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language biographical comedy drama film directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani, written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banners Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vi ...
'' (2018) and '' Thappad'' (2020), with ''Sanju'' being her highest grossing release. She co-owned a production house, Born Free Entertainment, with her ex-husband Sahil Sangha. After their divorce, she launched her own production house, One India Stories, in 2019. She has since starred in the streaming series '' Kaafir'' (2019) and '' IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack'' (2024).


Early life

Mirza was born in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
, India. Her father, Frank Handrich, is a German graphics and industrial fair designer, architect, artist and interior designer based in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. Her mother, Deepa, is a
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
interior designer and landscaper who also volunteers to help alcoholics and drug addicts. When she was four-and-a-half years old, her parents divorced. After her mother married Ahmed Mirza, a Muslim man from Hyderabad, she adopted her step-father's surname. He died in 2003. After initially attending Vidyaranya High School, a co-ed school, Mirza was enrolled into
Nasr School Nasr School is a private school chain in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, run by The Nasr Education Society and affiliated to Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations(CISCE). Nasr Education Society celebrated its Golden Jubilee year in ...
, a girl's day school in Khairtabad. She then attended Stanley Junior College before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from
Ambedkar Open University Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, also known as Telangana Open University, formerly Andhra Pradesh Open University, is a public university in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. History The university was established in 1982 as An ...
,
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
.


Career


Modelling

Mirza worked while in college as a marketing executive for a media firm, Neeraj's Multi-media Studio. At the same time, she modelled for print and
TV commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
for brands such as
Lipton Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, Tom Lipton, who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1 ...
,
Wall's ice cream Wall's is formerly an ice cream and meat products brand in the UK, now split into two businesses: * Wall's (ice cream), a brand owned by Unilever that makes ice cream * Wall's (meat), a British sausage brand owned by Kerry Foods See also * Walls ( ...
, Emami and many more. She was the second runner-up at the Miss India pageant in 2000 and then went on to win the Miss Asia Pacific title in 2000. In 2013, ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' placed Mirza in its "50 Beautiful Faces" list, at the 15th position.


Acting

She made her debut in
Gautham Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films that were mostly either sim ...
directed ''
Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein ''Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein'' (), also known by the initialism ''RHTDM'', is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring R. Madhavan, Saif Ali Khan and Dia Mirza in the lead roles. ...
'', a remake of Menon's
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
film ''
Minnale ''Minnale'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language musical romance film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon in his directoral debut. The story was written by Menon and Vipul D. Shah. The film, starring Madhavan, Abbas and Reema Sen, tells the story ...
''. She then appeared in films such as ''
Alag ''Alag'' () is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language science-fiction film directed by Ashu Trikha, starring Akshay Kapoor and Dia Mirza. The protagonist is a man with extraordinary supernatural powers and with no hair on his entire body. This film was ...
'', '' Dum'', ''
Deewaanapan ''Deewaanapan'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic action film directed by Ashu Trikha. The film was released on 16 November 2001. It stars Arjun Rampal and Dia Mirza in the lead roles, with Om Puri and Vinod Khanna in supporting ro ...
'', '' Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge'', '' Tumsa Nahin Dekha: A Love Story'', '' Parineeta'', ''
Dus ''Dus'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Anubhav Sinha, based on the lives of seven fictional SIT (Indian Special Investigation) officers. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Zayed Khan, Sh ...
'', '' Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' and '' Salaam Mumbai''. In 2018, she appeared as
Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who works in Hindi cinema in addition to a few Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi films. Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 160 films. ...
's wife Manyata Dutt in the biopic ''
Sanju ''Sanju'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language biographical comedy drama film directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani, written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banners Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vi ...
'', which ranks among the highest grossing Indian films. In 2020, she appeared in '' Thappad'', which went on to win the
Filmfare Award for Best Film The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. Eac ...
. She appeared in the
ZEE5 ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...
web series '' Kaafir'' in 2019. Set in Kashmir, she starred opposite Mohit Raina in the series.


Producer

In 2011, she started Born Free Entertainment, a production house with her ex-husband Sahil Sangha. She has also produced '' Love Breakups Zindagi'', '' Bobby Jasoos'' and a sitcom web series titled '' Mind the Malhotras'' (2019), streaming on
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
. The series stars
Cyrus Sahukar Cyrus Sahukar (born 6 August 1980) is an Indian actor, VJ (media personality), VJ, writer, Television presenter, host, comedian and an entrepreneur. He has acted in several OTT and Bollywood films. Early life and family Cyrus Sahukar was born ...
and Mini Mathur in the lead. In December 2019 she announced she was forming a new production house "One India Stories" to create original content. It also produced '' Love Breakups Zindagi'' (2011).


Pageantry

Mirza was the second runner-up at
Femina Miss India Miss India, also known as Femina Miss India, is a national beauty pageant in India that selects representatives to compete in the Miss World competition, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It is organized by ''Femina (India), F ...
2000 and was subsequently sent to Miss Asia Pacific 2000, where she won. She also won Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Avon and Miss Close-Up Smile in Miss India. When she won the Miss Asia Pacific title on 3 December 2000 in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, the Philippines, she became the first Indian since Tara Anne Fonseca to win this title in 27 years. She completed the hat-trick of India winning international pageants in the year 2000;
Lara Dutta Lara Dutta Bhupathi ( Dutta; born 16 April 1978) is an Indian actress. She won the Miss Universe 2000, and has since predominantly worked in Hindi films and series. Dutta is a recipient of a Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Award and established hers ...
won the
Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...
title and
Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is India's highest-paid actress and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and fiv ...
won the
Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...
title in the same year.


Community services and activism

Mirza has been involved with the Cancer Patients Aid Association and Spastics Society of India, and has worked extensively with the
government of Andhra Pradesh The Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as GoAP, is the Administrative division, state government and the administrative body responsible for the governance of the States of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati is the capital ...
to spread HIV awareness, prevention of female foeticide,
PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...
, CRY and most recently the NDTV Greenathon – an effort to find tangible solutions against pollution and the book, ''"Deke Dheko"'' by Radio Mirchi (a campaign initiated to collect books for underprivileged children). She is on the board of the Coca-Cola Foundation which works towards development in rural India. She is associated with campaigns such as Sanctuary Asia's Leave Me Alone and Female Foeticide. In 2010 she adopted two cheetah cubs at the Prince of Wales zoological park in
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
. Mirza, along with
Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and television personality who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. Referred to as "Mr. Perfectionist" in the media, he is known for his work in a variety of film g ...
, publicly expressed support for the
Narmada Bachao Andolan ''Narmada Bachao Andolan'' (NBA, , 'Save the Narmada River Movement') is an Indian social movement spearheaded by native tribals (''adivasis''), farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against a number of large dam projects across ...
, a group protesting the building of a dam. This aroused the ire of political activists from the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
, who led a protest march against the actress. She won the Green Award at IIFA 2012 for spreading awareness about environment-related issues. Along with these, Mirza has endorsed The Body Shop for their stand on a ban on animal testing and propagation of recycled packaging and natural products. She is the Eco-Ambassador for Panasonic. Mirza has been felicitated at award functions for her active involvement in social and environmental issues. She has been named the ambassador for the Swachh Bharat Mission's youth-based 'Swachh Saathi' programme. As an ambassador, the actress would interact with school and college students from across the country through awareness sessions, community cleaning activities and motivational videos. She joined Save The Children India as their first-ever artist ambassador. On World Environment Day 2017, she was appointed brand ambassador for the
Wildlife Trust of India The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) is one of India's leading wildlife conservation action institutions. It works closely with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Government of India, as well as with the respective sta ...
. She has lent her support to WTI's wildlife conservation endeavours for several years and is a founder-member of the organisation's Club Nature initiative, also supporting a campaign to raise awareness about the shrinking space for wild elephants in the country. She was also appointed as the UN Environment's Goodwill Ambassador for India in 2017 and on 7 May 2020, her term was further extended till 2022. She was appointed by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
as an advocate of
Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...
. She also turned into a blogger to save the environment and create awareness. She hosted United Nations Champions Gala 2019 with Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin. She attended the 14th UN Conference of the Parties and hosted the finale reception. Mirza initiated a cleanliness drive at Juhu beach on Independence Day 2019 and another at Mahim beach on 26 January, to make the beach free from single-use plastic. Mirza supports Ramky's BIG Green Ganesha and felicitated the winners with Tree Ganeshas in 2019. She has also been featured by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in its 11th edition of
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
100 Women List 2023, listing her as one of the four Indian women featured. Mirza lent her voice to a snow leopard called Layla for an environmental podcast of Run Wild, which is a collaboration between Runtastic, the UN Environmental Programme and the Internet of Elephants.


Personal life

In April 2014, Mirza became engaged to her longtime business partner Sahil Sangha, and they were married on 18 October 2014 at his farmhouse in Chhatarpur,
South Delhi South Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India with its headquarters in Saket. Administratively, the district is divided into three subdivisions, Saket, Hauz Khas, and Mehrauli. It is bounded by ...
. In August 2019, Mirza announced their separation. On 15 February 2021, Mirza married businessman Vaibhav Rekhi in
Bandra Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India. The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district. It ...
,
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
. On 14 July 2021, Mirza announced that she had a premature birth of a baby boy, Avyaan Azaad Rekhi on 14 May and he was in NICU for 2 months. She also has a step-daughter, Samaira Rekhi from Vaibhav Rekhi's previous marriage.


Media image

In the Times Most Desirable Women list, Mirza was placed 14th in 2009, 24th in 2010 25th in 2011 and 35th in 2012. Mirza was also placed in '' Femina''s "50 Most Beautiful Women" list. ''Times of India'' placed her at 15th position in its "50 Beautiful Faces" list. Mirza has written articles for ''
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
'' and other publications.


Filmography


Films


Television


Music videos


Award and nominations


Film awards

;Won * 2003: Bollywood Movie Award for Best Female Debut for ''
Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein ''Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein'' (), also known by the initialism ''RHTDM'', is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring R. Madhavan, Saif Ali Khan and Dia Mirza in the lead roles. ...
''. * 2003: Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut for ''Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein''. * 2019: Gold Award for Best Actress Critics – OTT for '' Kaafir''. ;Nominated *
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
:
Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut The Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut (previously known as Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year) is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films to recognise a performance by a female actor in their deb ...
for ''Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein''. * 2003: Screen Award for Best Female Debut for ''Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein'' and ''
Deewaanapan ''Deewaanapan'' () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language romantic action film directed by Ashu Trikha. The film was released on 16 November 2001. It stars Arjun Rampal and Dia Mirza in the lead roles, with Om Puri and Vinod Khanna in supporting ro ...
''. * 2011: BIG Star Most Entertaining Award for Actress in a Romantic Role for '' Love Breakups Zindagi''.


Other recognitions

*
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
: IIFA outstanding contribution to Environment. * 2022: Mirza was honoured with Mother Teresa Memorial Award by the
Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...
. * 2023: Mirza was named by ''
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
'' in its 100 Women list (One of the world's inspiring and influential women). * 2024: Iconic Gold Award for Environmentalist of the Year.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza, Dia Living people 1981 births Indian film actresses Indian web series actresses Femina Miss India winners Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Bengali cinema Indian people of German descent Bengali actresses Actresses from Hyderabad, India Female models from Hyderabad, India Indian women film producers Film producers from Hyderabad, India Businesspeople from Andhra Pradesh Miss Asia Pacific International winners United Nations goodwill ambassadors 21st-century Indian actresses