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This actress' debut film did not perform well on it release but today remains a cult classic. Published: April 26, 2025 1:05 PM IST By There lies a sense of beauty in the cultural diversity of a nation. When you come from a culturally diverse backgrounds, a person maybe entwined with varied perceptions and a unique worldview.

This is the story of one such Bollywood actress who hails from Hyderabad and traces her roots with diverse cultures due to her parents. The actress was born to a Christian father who was a German graphics and industrial fair designer while her mother is a Bengali Hindu interior designer. The actress was crowed the Miss Asia Pacific International in 2000s.



Today she strongly promotes eco-friendly sustenance to life and is one of the most renowned actress in the industry. Her name is Dia Mirza. Diverse Cultures and Personal Life Dia Mirza was born as Dia Handrich.

Her father was Frank Handrich and her mother’s name is Deepa. Her parents got separated when she was only 4-years-old and unfortunately her father passed away when she was 9-years-old. Mirza once shared how she never saw her parents fight in front of her but after their separation, she would spend weekends with her father.

Later, her mother married Ahmed Mirza from Hyderabad. After the demise of her biological father, Mirza grew close to her stepfather who treated her well and established an organic relationship of friendship first. In an old interview with Bollywood Hungama she revealed why she changed her surname from Handrich to Mirza.

“We shared a beautiful relationship that started with friendship. As I grew older, I realised that I had spent so many years of my life with him. He became like a father to me.

That’s why, when I participated in Miss India, I adopted his surname.” Life gets extremally unfair at times. For Mirza, fate had a similar thing written.

She lost her stepfather at the age of 23 leaving her shocked. She was miserable after losing two fathers in one lifetime. Dia Mirza started as marketing executive then switched to modelling and did TV commercials for Lipton, Wall’s Ice Cream, Emami etc.

She bagged her debut film in 2001 with Gautham Menon directed Mirza is deep down for social welfare, peacekeeping and eco-sustainability. She was the United Nation Environment’s Goodwill Ambassador for India in 2017 and later her term was further extended till 2022. In 2014, she got engaged to filmmaker Sahil Sangh but announced separation in 2019.

In 2021 she married a businessman Vaibhav Rekhi and welcomed a baby boy Avyaan Azaad Rekhi. She also has step-daughter Samiara Rekhi. On the work front, she was last seen in Khushi Kapoor and Ibrahim Ali Khan starrer on Netflix.

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