Dia Mirza says comparison with Aishwarya Rai at the age of 19 added extra pressure on her, 'it was also a very dangerous trend'

Dia Mirza

Bollywood actress Dia Mirza, who got immense fame from her debut movie Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein in 2001, said she felt 'disgusted' with her looks in the initial years of her career.

Dia, who won the Miss Asia Pacific International title in 2000, said in the early years of her career she didn't like her looks and even wore light-colored lenses since she was always compared to Aishwarya Rai.

While Dia did find it flattering, she said it added an unwanted pressure on a girl who was just 19 then. "When I started out as an actor, there was a lot of comparison with former beauty queens, especially Aishwarya Rai. It was, of course, a huge compliment at the age of 19 because I was just starting out. Having said that, it was also a very dangerous trend," she told Zoom in her latest interview.

Dia further said that due to the comparisons, she was forced to try and fit into those 'beauty standards.'. “Because of that, I was expected to be as refined as she was and match her beauty standards. However, I soon learned that you don’t have to be light-eyed and light-skinned to be perceived as beautiful. You can be yourself entirely and still be beautiful," she added.

Dia, who is really fair, said the industry was always focused on having people with fair skin, and she also fell for that trap.

“For the first 3-4 years of my career, I wore light-colored lenses in all my films. It was ridiculous because I was desperately trying to conform to their idea of beauty. It was also bizarre that despite having won an international beauty title, I was not comfortable with who I was," she said.

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Dia also recalled the time when she worked in Praan Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye (2003), and for that the makers had darkened her skin, and then how she became fair but says, 'I cringe seeing those shots today.'

“It was a very unique film. I played a character who is perceived as ‘not beautiful’ by society, and I remember them darkening my skin for the part. And the color of my eyes was kept brown as they are. Then, when the transformation happened, with the duckling turning into a swan, I was wearing light grey lenses, and the color of my skin changed. I cringe seeing those shots today. There’s a lot there that was really messed up, and I didn’t have the maturity or the understanding to see through them at that time," she added.

Dia Mirza was recently seen in Nadaaniyan with Jugal Hansraj, Ibrahim Ali Khan, and Khushi Kapoor.