FILM INTERVIEW: DIA MIRZA
Actress Makes Debut as a Producer in ‘Love Breakups Zindagi’
Former Miss India Dia Mirza certainly enjoyed her career as a Bollywood actress. Now she is pursuing her other ambitions of directing and producing cinema. Her first foray onto the other side of the camera debuts on October 7th, as Love Breakups Zindagi hits theaters around the world. Also starring in the film as the female lead, Ms. Dirza co-produced the film with fellow co-star Zayed Khan and her boyfriend Sahil Sangha.
In talking about her first production, Ms. Mirza talked about why she wants to do more than just act.
“There are certain aspects of cinema that I want to explore. I want to get into direction as the next possibility. I will always continue to act, but I want to grow. I want to do more exciting things,” Ms. Mirza told the Indian press. “I want to tell a story of heart and a story of resurrection. I have two ideas in mind that I am working on. They will be technically sound. I want to make them with very good actors.”
Speaking to the press in New Delhi about Love Breakups Zindagi, Ms. Mirza says she really believes her time has arrived and she is in a perfect place to expand her horizons.
“I think today I am at a whole new phase of my life and there is a lot that I have to look forward to,” Ms. Dirza told the press. “What I do believe in doing right now is doing everything with a lot of conviction and understanding.”
That “conviction and understanding” came by way of the fact that the actress has struggled to star in films that have been well-received at the box office. Through her experiences, Ms. Mirza has actually enjoyed acting as an art,and now hopes to find a way to balance her on-screen skills with her off-screen ambitions.
“I find acting actually very therapeutic. Acting is a self-explanatory process that helps you to unravel yourself. It helps you literally dig into your own life and your own past. There are different characters demanding different aspects of emotional baggage that you create along your life journey,” Ms. Dirza told members of the Indian media.
As “therapeutic” as she finds acting, Ms. Dirza is not quite sure how she will handle the demands of being an actor-director, if she handles them at all.
“It would be way too difficult to direct and act in the same film. I have managed producing and acting pretty well, but it would be unreasonable for me to act in my film. My main idea is to explore mediums of cinema,” Ms. Mirza added to the press.
As part of her explorations, Ms. Dirza thinks she has already discovered a management style in running a film production.
“Actors are like kids. You have to take care of them like kids, look after their smallest needs, and make them feel wanted and comfortable. We tried to provide all actors an atmosphere where they felt good, and also tried to create an environment of love and trust,” Ms. Mirza stated to the press in New Delhi.
Just the same, Ms. Mirza apparently enjoyed the environment of Love Breakups Zindagi on the other side of the camera, particularly in the way her character plays out onscreen.
“In most ways, Naina is so me! I identify with her situations and a lot of her traits. She’s maternal, independent, and finds beauty in other people’s happiness,” Ms. Mirza told reporters. “But, unlike me, she doesn't believe in confrontations or even bothers to listen to her inner voice.”
This weekend, Ms. Mirza hopes audiences will have their inner voices and head out to watch 'Love Breakups Zindagi' on October 7, 2011.
