‘Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein has sexism in it’: Dia Mirza

Actor Dia Mirza has opened up about sexism in the Hindi film industry. The actor also acknowledged that her 2001 movie Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein has sexist elements. She made her acting debut with the film.

Dia spoke about living in a patriarchal society and the prevalence of 'rampant sexism' in an industry that is 'largely led by men'. She said that she has worked with people who were a part of sexist cinema.

"People were writing, thinking and making sexist cinema and I was a part of these stories... Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein has sexism in it... I was acting with these people. I was working with these people. It's crazy. I will give you small examples. A makeup artist could only be a man, could not be a woman. A hairdresser only had to be a woman... When I started working in films there were at best about four or five women on any given crew with a unit strength of over 120... sometimes 180 people," she told Brut India.

"We live in a patriarchal society and it is an industry largely led by men. So there is a rampant sexism. And I think for a large part it is not even conscious sexism because there are so many men who are writers, who are directors, who are actors, who are not even aware of their sexist thinking," she added.

Dia is known for her career in acting as well as winning the Miss Asia Pacific crown in 2000. She and her husband Vaibhav Rekhi tied the knot earlier this year and are currently expecting their first child. The actor made the announcement by sharing a photo, cradling her baby bump in the Maldives, where the couple went for their honeymoon.

Dia has acted in several movies such as Sanju, Parineeta, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, and Love Breakups Zindagi. Recently, she was seen along with Nagarjuna Akkineni and Saiyami Kher in Wild Dog.