As someone who entered the film industry after winning a beauty pageant, one would assume that actor Dia Mirza would’ve had it easy. But she had to face challenges in her film career, too.

“Any stereotype and pre-conceived notions are not good. The way I look has been a disadvantage for me in my acting profession many a time. I have lost a job and not been cast in a part because I look too good. It’s a strange disadvantage,” she shares.

The 38-year-old, who made her film debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001) after winning the Miss Asia Pacific title in 2000, says, “I may be sounding ungrateful. But because of the colour of my skin I am at a disadvantage. As much as I know and am acutely aware that darker complexioned women have it hard as well. But there is a certain type of cinema I love. I love the thinking cinema but the stereotypes attached to the thinking cinema and women who play those parts are so limiting. But finally things are looking up.”

The year also marks 20 years since she won the title and Mirza says for her it was like an opportunity which would lead to many more. “It gave me a voice, it gave me a platform, it empowered me financially, it gave me opportunities to work. I am still discovering. There is so much more I know about myself than when I was 18,” she explains.

So, if she hadn’t won the beauty pageant, would films still have found her? “I have always loved films. I do believe that given how creative and artistic I have been, I would have found my way into this line of work,” she concludes.