Happy Birthday Dia Mirza!

Dia Handrich was born on 9th December, 1981 in Hyderabad to a German father and Indian mother. After her father's untimely death, her mother remarried to Ahmed Mirza which resulted in her adopting the last name of her stepfather.

Dia completed her schooling in Hyderabad and then worked as a Marketing Executive in a media firm, even while she was still studying at college. She also modeled for various brands and appeared in print and TV commercials, making herself known in the beauty industry. This resulted in her participating in Miss India 2000 where she finished off as the second runner up. The next title in her beauty pageant kitty was the Miss Asia Pacific tiara, making her the first Indian to win the title in twenty seven years.

Dia's first appearance on the big screen was in a Tamil song "Jumbalakka" with Mink Brar in En Swaasa Katre (1999), although she was not credited for it. Her Bollywood debut developed with Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein (2001) opposite R. Madhavan and Saif Ali Khan. Though the movie did not do well at the box office, the songs became an instant rage. Since then, she has appeared in Deewanapan (2001), Tumko Na Bhool Payenge (2002), Parineeta (2005), Dus (2005) and Dus Kahaniyan (2007) among others. She also appeared in the music video "Kajra Mohabbat Wala".

 

Though Dia has not yet made it in the top league of actresses of today, she is widely known for her passionate heart and various community services. Her work for the Cancer Patients Aid Association, HIV awareness, prevention of female foeticide, CRY, and Greenathon is nothing less of remarkable. She has also adopted two cheetah cubs at the Lucknow Zoo, extending her compassion to animals with the PETA campaign. Her contribution to the Greenathon was highly noted which results in her winning a prestigious IIFA 2012 'Green Award' accolade.

Dia also has her own production house, Born Free Entertainment, which she opened with Sahil Sangha, her finance, and Zayed Khan, with Love Breakups Zindagi (2011) being the company's first release. She is noted to love reading, writing, painting, pottery and horse riding. Dia has written several articles for Hindustan Times and several other publications.

 

To celebrate this occasion BollyCurry presents you a mini playlist of her popular songs.