Dia Mirza Opens About The Time She Was Part Of Sexist Cinema

Dia Mirza who started her career in the year 2001, spoke about how people were making sexist cinemas back then. She also pointed out how the sex ratio of women in the filming crew was drastically broken.

Actor Dia Mirza made her Bollywood debut with the 2001 movie Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein. Talking about the sexist projects she was a part of, Dia Mirza said in an interview that people were writing, thinking and making sexist cinema, and she was a part of these stories.

She also mentioned that her first film Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein has sexism in it. Further, she revealed a surprising fact that in those times, a makeup artist could only be a man while a hairdresser had to be a female. This being a very sexist stereotype existed in many other movies too.

Dia Mirza on sexist cinema

Mirza also said that when she started working in films, there were at best only 4 or 5 women on any given film crew with a unit strength of over 120, sometimes 180 people. There would just never be any female representation on a film crew, so the gender ratio was skewed, she added. Mirza also mentioned that nobody really cared about the gender ratio.

Further, Dia Mirza added that we live in a patriarchal society, and it is an industry that is largely led by men. So there is rampant sexism. Mirza also pointed out that sexism in the cinema is not a part of conscious sexism because there are so many men who are writers, directors, actors, and are not even aware of their sexist thinking.

Dia Mirza also mentioned that she had no mentor or no one who could guide her or help her understand how to go about consolidating her choices or even making the right choices. She further added that she completely and solely depended on instinct and her managers at the time.