Dia Mirza recalls asking 'friend' Rajkumar Hirani for work: Please cast me in your movie Sanju

Dia Mirza recalls her first ever call to a friend asking for work, when she urged Rajkumar Hirani to cast her in Sanju, the 2018 biopic on Sanjay Dutt.

Dia Mirza has said that when one decides to become an actor, it is like ‘signing a bond for heartache’. She also revealed that she had urged Rajkumar Hirani to cast her in his Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju. ()

Actor Dia Mirza talks about her journey in the film industry.(HT_PRINT)

Dia is busy promoting her new film, Bheed, which also stars Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Kapur and Bhumi Pednekar in pivotal roles. The film is directed by Anubhav Sinha. She was previously seen in Anubhav's Thappad alongside Taapsee Pannu.

Dia told Indian Express in an interview, “When we become actors, we sign a bond of heartache. Heartache when your stories don’t find audiences, heartache when your stories don’t find producers, heartache when you are just waiting endlessly for someone to send work your way. It is really tough." She also said that if a film works, artists may believe that it wil attract more work for them, but it is not always the case.

Dia also said that she called up Rajkumar Hirani and urged him to cast her in his biopic on Sanjay Dutt - Sanju. “Sanju for me was oxygen. I really needed it. remember for the first time in my career, I called a friend, because Raju is a friend, and said, ‘Please cast me in your movie. I need to work, and I want to be in a film, I am not getting any work.’ They then tested me, and liked what they saw and I landed the part.”

She also said that she never did something like that before Sanju because she was always shy and awkward about making calls to friends for work. “May be that’s one of the reasons why I have not landed other jobs, maybe it takes for you to call and tell the filmmaker that, ‘I want to work with you'.”

After making her debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein opposite R Madhavan and Saif Ali Khan in 2001, Dia featured in several films in the early 2000s. With the 2018 film Sanju, she reappeared as a popular face in the industry. She has since worked in Anubhav Sinha's Thappad and the web show Kaafir.