Dia Mirza Admits Her Debut Film Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein Has Sexism In It; 'People Were Making Sexist Cinema'

Dia Mirza is one of the few leading ladies in Bollywood who has never away from speaking her mind. In a recent interview, the Sanju actress opened up about sexism in the Hindi industry and admitted that her debut film Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein also had sexist elements in it.

For the unversed, the 2001 film which starred Dia Mirza and R Madhavan in leading roles, revolves around Maddy (Madhavan) who impersonates Rajeev (Saif Ali Khan), the person his love interest, Reena (Dia Mirza), is about to marry and attempts to woo her.

Speaking about being a part of sexist cinema, Dia told Brut India, "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."

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Dia further mentioned that we live in a patriarchal society and talked about the prevalence of 'rampant sexism' in an industry that is 'largely led by men'.

"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," the actress told the portal.

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After winning the title of Miss Asia Pacific International in 2000, Dia Mirza made her debut in Bollywood in Gautam Menon's romantic comedy Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein in 2001. In a career spanning over two decades, Mirza starred in films like Deewaanapan, Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge, Parineeta, Thappad and others.

With respect to her personal life, the actress tied the knot with businessman Vaibhav Rekhi earlier this year, and the couple is expecting their first child.