Dia Mirza

Dia Mirza
Beauty pageant titleholder

Dia Mirza in January 2014
Born Dia Handrich
(1981-12-09) 9 December 1981
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Residence Mumbai, India
Occupation Model, actress, film producer
Years active 2000–present
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Title(s) Miss Asia Pacific 2000
Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 2000
Major
competition(s)		 Femina Miss India 2000
(Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 2000)
(Miss Beautiful Smile)
Miss Asia Pacific 2000
(Winner)
(Miss Close-Up Smile)
(Miss AVON)
Spouse Sahil Sangha (m.2014–present)

Dia Mirza Sangha (Born Dia Handrich on 9 December 1981) is an Indian model, actress and producer, who won the Miss Asia Pacific 2000 title. Mirza has primarily worked in Bollywood, and is known in media for her social work. She co-owns a production house Born Free Entertainment along with Sahil Sangha.[1] Their first film, Love Breakups Zindagi,[2] made under the banner was released on 7 October 2011.

Personal life and Education

Dia Mirza was born in India. Her father, Frank Handrich, was a German graphic and industrial fair designer, architect, artist and interior designer from Munich, and her mother, Deepa, is a Bengali Hindu who is an interior designer, landscaper and currently does social work as a volunteer to help alcoholics and addicts. They separated when she was four years old.[3][4] Her father died when she was nine and her mother married Ahmed Mirza, who died in 2003.[3]

When living in Khairatabad, Hyderabad city, she attended Vidyaranya High School for Boys and Girls, a school partly based on the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti, and later Nasr School, in Khairtabad. She attended Stanley Junior College and completed her graduation in Bachelor of Arts from Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad.[5] In April 2014, she got engaged to her longtime Business Partner Sahil Sangha. Dia Mirza and Sahil Sangha got married on October 18, 2014 at New Delhi's Chattarpur farm.

Biography

Dia Mirza worked when still in college as a Marketing executive for a media firm. At the same time she modelled for print and TV commercials for brands like Lipton, Walls Ice Cream, Emami and many more. She won Miss Asia Pacific in the year 2000. She debuted through 'Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein' which could not do well at Box Office. Then she appeared in various movies like 'Dum', 'Deewanapan', 'Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge', 'Tumsa Nahin Dekha - A Love Story', 'Parineeta', 'Dus', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' etc. She has not been a very successful actress. But she has garnered a lot of praise for her social work. She has also got an IIFA 2012 Green Award for her contribution towards green environment. She has done various awareness campaigns on prevention of female foeticide, HIV awareness, the Cancer Patients Aid Association, PETA, ADAPT, CRY. She also publicly supported the Naramada Bachao Andolan. She has also written articles for Hindustan Times and other publications.

Dia started working at the age of 16 years while continuing her college education. She worked as a marketing executive in a multi-media firm called Dr. Neeraj's Multi media studio. She simultaneously modelled for the print and television advertisement campaigns of various brands such as Walls, Lipton, Emami etc. Mirza wanted to complete her graduation in Arts by correspondence, but decided to postpone it as it was becoming difficult to juggle between the Miss Asia Pacific competition, modelling assignments, travelling and training. She could not complete her graduation due to being busy at work. She studied at NYU.

Dia married Sahil Sangha on 18 October 2014 at Delhi.[6]

Film career

Dia Mirza made her cinematic debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein opposite R. Madhavan. Later, she appeared in Parineeta, a Vidhu Vinod Chopra production. In 2012, Mirza tried her luck into regional cinema with Bengali Filmmaker Pratim Dasgupta's Paanch Adhyay.[7] The movie turned out to be a success and was also selected by various Film Festivals within India and across the world.[8]

She also appeared in the films Dus and Fight Club. She was the only female actor among the six key characters in the film, Acid Factory, in which she played a femme fatale who is also a gangster but the film was a failure.[9] Dia will next be featuring in Johny Mastana, Bits and pieces, Kayanat, Bidhaatar lekha and Familywala.

Titles

Dia Mirza at the IIFA Rocks fashion show

Dia Mirza was a second runner up at Femina Miss India, 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, Philippines, she became the first Indian contestant to win this title in 29 years.[10] She completed the hat-trick of India winning international pageants in the year 2000; Lara Dutta won the Miss Universe title and Priyanka Chopra won the Miss World title in the same year.[11] The win came to her as a golden opportunity and opened the doors of Bollywood for her.

Community services

Dia Mirza has been involved with Cancer Patients Aid Association, Spastics Society of India, and has worked extensively with government of Andhra Pradesh to spread HIV awareness, prevention of female foeticide, PETA, CRY and most recently the NDTV Greenathon – an effort to find tangible solutions against pollution and book, "Deke Dheko" by Radio Mirchi (a campaign initiated to collect books for underprivileged children). Her other hobbies include writing, reading, painting, pottery, horse riding and theatre. She has written several articles for the Hindustan Times and various other publications as a guest writer. She is on the board of the Coca Cola foundation that works towards development in rural India. She recently adopted two cheetah cubs at the Prince of Wales zoological park in Lucknow.[12]

Activism

Dia Mirza has been actively involved in addressing social issues and has been a part of various campaigns. The actress is an active member of Cancer Patients Aid Association, PETA, Child Rights and You (CRY), ADAPT, Greenpeace India, and the Coca Cola foundation. She is also associated with campaigns such as Sanctuary Asia's Leave Me Alone and Female Foeticide.

Dia Mirza, along with Aamir Khan publicly expressed support for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a group protesting the building of a dam. This aroused the ire of political activists from the Bharatiya Janata Party, who led a protest march against the actress.[13] Dia also won the Green Award at IIFA 2012 for spreading awareness about environment-related issues.

Along with these, Mirza has endorsed for The Body Shop for their stand on the ban on animal testing and propagation of recycled packaging and natural products.[14] Also, she is the Eco Ambassador for Panasonic. Dia Mirza has been felicitated at various award functions for her active involvement in the Social and Environmental Issues

Awards

Dia Mirza receiving award from Chitrangada Singh at IIFA 2012
2002
2005
2011
2012
2013

Filmography

Year Film/Album Role Notes
2000 Khoya Khoya Chand Song Herself Lead Role [15]
2001 Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein Reena Malhotra Lead Role
Winner, Zee Cine Awards for Best Debut: Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein
Winner, Bollywood movie award for Best Debut Newcomer : Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein
Nominated, Screen Awards for Most Promising Female Newcomer : Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein
Nominated, Popular Award for the Best Debut (Female) : Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein
Deewaanapan Kiran Choudhary Lead Role
Nominated, Screen Awards for Most Promising Female Newcomer : Deewaanapan
2002 Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge Muskaan Lead Role
Tehzeeb Nazneen Jamal Supporting Role
2003 Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye Saundarya Lead Role
Stop! Shama Lead Role
Dum Kaveri Lead Role
2004 Tumsa Nahin Dekha Jia Lead Role
Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na Preeti Special Appearance
Naam Gum Jaayega Natasha/Gitanjali Lead Role
My Brother… Nikhil Special Appearance
Blackmail Mrs. Rathod Special Appearance
2005 Parineeta Gayatri Supporting Role
Dus Anu Dheer Supporting Role
Koi Mere Dil Mein Hai Simran Lead Role
Fight Club - Members Only Anu Chopra Supporting Role
Phir Hera Pheri Item number (song)
2006 Alag Purva Rana Lead Role
Lage Raho Munna Bhai Simran Supporting Role
Prateeksha Reena Brown Lead Role (TV Release)
2007 Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. Shilpa Lead Role
Shootout at Lokhandwala Mita Matu Supporting Role
Cash Aditi Lead Role
Heyy Babyy Herself Special Appearance in a Song
Om Shanti Om Herself Special Appearance
Dus Kahaniyaan Sia Lead Role
2008 Krazzy 4 Shikha Supporting Role
2009 Kissan Priya Lead Role
Jai Veeru Anna Lead Role
Acid Factory Max Lead Role
Fruit and Nut Monica Gokhale Lead Role
Kurbaan Rehana (WIACB reporter) Special Appearance
Luck By Chance Herself Special Appearance
2010 Hum Tum Aur Ghost Gehna Lead Role
2011 Love Breakups Zindagi Naina Lead Role
2012 Paanch Adhyay Ishita Bengali Film Debut
Winner, The Jaipur International Film Festival for Best Actress award : Paanch Adhyay
2014 Bobby Jasoos Herself Producer of the Film
2015 Familywala TBA Lead Role Filming

References

External links

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