Dia Mirza opens up about ‘sexist’ Bollywood and admits she was ‘part of the stories’

Indian actor Dia Mirza is calling out the sexist mindsets present in Bollywood that have disabled women from leading in the industry. 

Speaking to Brut India, the actor also admitted that her own debut film, Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein had sexist elements in it as well.

"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. I will give you small examples,” she said.

“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," she continued.

"We live in a patriarchal society and it is an industry largely led by men. So there is a 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," she added.