Women from India achieved a rare triple when Diya Mirza of Hyderabad won the Miss Asia Pacific 2000 title, making a clean sweep of the top three beauty pageants in the world in a single calendar year. At 18, a quiet, 5’6″ tall, introverted girl entered the Femina Miss India Contest to have some fun. She walked away with 3 titles.

Diya,a versatile personality, inherited her enchanting eyes from her Bengali mother and her complexion and colour of hair to her German father. Dee (her nickname) is also a very philosophical person, maybe because she has seen so much at such a young age. Her parents separated when she was just six.The strongest influence in her life has been her mother, who has been like a friend, philosopher and guide.

As a career move, the Hyderabad girl shifted to Mumbai, away from home and family. Compromises have been difficult, but necessary. And now Mirza who won over a lot of hearts with her poise is poised to take on Bollywood with elan.

She was introverted and unhappy as a child, and it was her parents, especially her mom, who instilled self-confidence and assisted her to break free from the barriers of low self-esteem.

At the age of 16, after completing her 10th standard, she got a job with Sriven Multi-Tech in Hyderabad. This job paved her way to modeling assignments with Lipton, Emami amongst others. With this exposure she was encouraged to participate in the 2000 Femina Miss India Beauty Pageant, which she did, came up the second runner-up and won three titles namely Femina Miss India-Pacific, Sony Viewer’s Choice Award, and Miss Beautiful Smile. She went on to be crowned Miss Asia-Pacific on December 2, 2000 at Manila, making her the second Indian to win this award after a gap of 29 years.

Dia wanted to complete her graduation in Arts by correspondence, but decided to postpone it as it was becoming difficult to juggle between the Miss Asia Pacific Competition, modeling assignments, traveling and training. She was assisted by Sabira Merchant on diction and etiquette; diet with Anjali Mukherjee; gymnasium and physical fitness with Talwalkars; clothes from Ritu Kumar and Hemant Trivedi; skin care with Dr. Jamuna Pai; and make-up and hair-care from Bharat and Doris Godambe.

2004 to 2008 She reprised the role of Gayatri Tantya in the hit Parineeta (2004). Dus (2004), Blackmail(2004), Fight Club(2006) and Alag (2006) were her other releases. She appeared in a song in the comedy Phir Hera Pheri (2006) and as Simran in the hit sequel Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006). In 2007, she had some success with movies like Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, Shootout at Lokhandwala and Heyy Babyy. Krazzy 4 (2008) did badly.

2009 Dia Mirza’s movies are Fruit & Nuts, Aankh Micholi, Bits & Pieces and she will also be part of a reality game show Kaho Naa Yaar Hai.

Films Done By Dia Mirza

1999 En Swasa Kaatre Dancer Tamil film
2001 Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein Reena Malhotra Zee Cine Awards for Best Debut
2002 Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge Muskaan
2002 Tehzeeb Nazneen Jamal
2003 Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye Saundarya
2003 Stop! Shama
2003 Dum Kaveri
2004 Tumsa Nahin Dekha Jiya
2004 Kyun…! Ho Gaya Na Preeti Special appearance
2004 My Brother… Nikhil Special appearance
2004 Blackmail Mrs. Rathod Special appearance
2005 Naam Gum Jaayega Natasha/Gitanjali
2006 Alag Purva Rana
2006 Lage Raho Munna Bhai Simran
2006 Prateeksha Reena Brown Television film
2007 Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. Shilpa
2007 Heyy Babyy Herself Special appearance in a Song
2007 Om Shanti Om Herself Special appearance
2007 Dus Kahaniyaan Sia
2008 Krazzy 4 Shikha
2009 Kissan Priya
2009 Luck By Chance Herself Special appearance
2010 Hum Tum Aur Ghost Gehna Sinha
2011 Love Breakups Zindagi Naina
2012 Paanch Adhyay Ishita
2014 Bobby Jasoos Producer
2016 Salaam Mumbai Karishma Iranian-Indian Film
2018 Sanju Manyata Dutt
2020 Thappad Shivani
2020 Wild Dog Priya Verma Telugu film; Filming

Web series Done By Dia Mirza

2019 Kaafir Kainaaz ZEE5
2019 Mind the Malhotras Producer Amazon Prime Video
2019 Moghuls Khanzada

Television Done By Dia Mirza

2016 Ganga – The Soul of India Herself Channel Living Foodz