Dia Mirza, with a career spanning over twenty years in the Hindi film industry, admits she feels “embarrassed” by her early performances. During that period, she was still discovering her voice and trying to carve out a place in an industry that often did not regard female actors as intellectually capable.Dia made her debut in Bollywood with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein in 2001 and subsequently appeared in several mid-sized films. These roles primarily kept her visible on screen but did not significantly advance her career.In an interview with Indianexpress. com, Dia stated, “Oh my God, I am embarrassed! I truly am. There was something there, but I was struggling to even find my own voice. I wasn’t clear who I was.” The actor, who currently acts in the Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, claimed she began working at an early age and had no formal acting school, so she learnt most of her skills on the job.She further added, “In my 20s if you had told me that I would play some of the most exciting parts in my 40s, I would have never believed you. I do feel I am in a sweet spot right now, because I have the privilege to say no to something I don’t believe in and fortunately enough, the people I respect, are finding me. Do I still feel I am underutilised? One hundred percent yes, that’s the greedy artiste in me. Hopefully that will never be satiated.”On the work front, She is currently seen in Anubhav Sinha’s IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, which stars actors Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Patralekhaa, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, and Pooja Gor.
