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At 18, a
quiet, introverted girl entered the Femina Miss India
Contest to have some fun.
She walked away with 3 titles – Miss Beautiful Smile, The
Sony Viewers’ Choice Award and Femina Miss India-Asia
Pacific. Not that Diya was complaining.
Life has changed in the 10 months since she won the Femina
Miss India-Asia Pacific Crown. She has had to make choices
over what most 18-year old girls are taken for granted –
parents, education and paying bills.
As a career move, the Hyderabad girl shifted to Mumbai,
away from home and family. Compromises have been
difficult, but necessary.
Like with her education, for one. She opted to do her
First Year Bachelor of Arts via correspondence, but as the
Miss Asia Pacific competition drew closer, juggling work
and studies became close to impossible, specially with her
modeling assignments, travelling and training.
Diya says, 'I am getting first-hand knowledge about the
world and about people from my travels. Of course, when I
come back I will resume my formal studies. But I don’t
have any regrets right now.'
She adds, 'My carefree days are over. I have become
responsible and busy.'
Especially with all the training she has had to undergo.
Sabira Merchant worked with her on her diction and
etiquette, physical training was with Talwalkars, diet
with Anjali Mukherjee, skin care with Dr. Jamuna Pai, hair
and make-up with Bharat and Doris Godambe, and clothes
from Ritu Kumar and Hemant Trivedi.
Diya is all prepared to hitch her wagon to a star. She is
a young woman who is caring, sensitive, beautiful and
loving.
She is also independent and armed with a mind of her own.
And with everyone’s confidence and encouragement egging on
her, Diya has a good chance of bagging a crown India
hasn’t won in 25 years.
Diya Mirza
Date of Birth 9 December 1981, India
Nickname Dee
Height 5' 3" (1.60 m)
Won the Miss Asia-Pacific contest in 2000 and is
considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Indian
cinema.
Born to a German father and a Bengali mother
Titles: Miss Beautiful Smile, The Sony Viewers Choice
Award.
Personal Quotes
"I have learned a lot in the film industry. There was
a time when I told my mother let's go. I did not want to
continue to act. It was getting frustrating. I realized
that the minute your film flops those producers who are
keen to sign you make an excuse and back out at the last
minute. You are dropped from the film. Sometimes the film
is announced in a lavish way but does not take off. I got
tired of all this and thought of seriously giving up my
career once and for all. But then I realized that things
were not so bad for me after all. Filmmakers respected me!
Few have shown genuine interest to cast me in their films.
And that is what has kept me going."
About actor Salman Khan: "Once my mother fell unconscious.
I called Salman since he stays close to my house. It was
with his help that I was able to rush my mother to the
hospital. The doctor later told us that had we not to got
my mother admitted within those 15 minutes, she would have
had very little chance of survival. I'm eternally grateful
to Salman and will stand by him no matter what."
Aamir began his career as a child actor in the films
Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973) and Madhosh (1974). He made his
adult film debut in Ketan Mehta's Holi (1984).
In 1988 he got his first leading role in Qayamat Se
Qayamat Tak which was a huge success and launched his
career.[1]. He went onto appear in many other films in the
1990s, which had mixed success at the box office. However
he has had many box office hits to his credit. His most
successful films in 1990s included Dil (1990), Jo Jeeta
Wohi Sikander (1992), Rangeela (1995) and Raja Hindustani
(1996). [2]He also acted as well as wrote the screenplay
for the film Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993) and did
playback singing for himself in Ghulam (1998).
In 1998 he played a character with negative shades in
Deepa Mehta's offbeat film Earth (1998) which was however
a box office failure despite receiving acclaim from
critics. In 1999 he won acclaim for his role as a
dedicated cop fighting border terrorism in Sarfarosh
(1999). In 2000 he starred alongside his real-life brother
Faisal Khan in Mela which was a
box office and critical failure.[3]
In 2001 he produced and starred in the period epic film
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. This film was one of
the biggest hits of 2001[4] and was nominated for many
awards including the Academy Award for Best Foreign
Language Film. His second film released in 2001 was Dil
Chahta Hai which was also a success at the box office.
He had no film releases for three years since he put in a
lot of time preparing for the role of the real-life martyr
Mangal Pandey in The Rising (2005) Although not as
successful as Lagaan it managed to do moderately well at
the box office. His next release Rang De Basanti (2006),
in which he played a university drop-out who along with
his friends fights against corrupt politics was one of the
highest grossing films of 2006[6] and was selected as
India's official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign
Language Film category. The film was not shortlisted as a
nominee. It however won a nomination in Best Foreign
language film at BAFTA in England |
