Dia Mirza is one of the few voices of reason in Bollywood who have spoken up against the sexism and patriarchy in the industry. And now, she is back at it again, talking about something we’ve all been uncomfortable about for a while.
In a recent interview with Brut, the actor acknowledged how sexist her iconic film, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein was. The film perpetuated and glorified stalking and casual harassment.
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.
-Dia Mirza
She even commented on how there was barely any gender diversity on-set.
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.
-Dia Mirza
The worst part, she pointed out, was that most men in the industry aren’t even aware of the sexist and problematic scenarios they write, act in and perpetuate.
We live in a patriarchal society and it is an industry largely led by men. So there is 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.
Watch her complete interview here:
It’s refreshing to watch actors acknowledge their problematic work and create awareness about the same in the industry.