New Delhi: For more than two decades, Dia Mirza has been a part of the entertainment industry. The actor talked about winning the Miss Asia-Pacific competition in 2000 in a recent interview. Dia revealed that she never let anyone "commodify or objectify" her and that she defied social convention by entering the international pageant in a one-piece bikini, even though it was not the popular choice. In the swimwear round of international beauty pageants, women were expected to wear two-piece swimsuits.
In a chat with BBC Hindi, Dia said, "When I participated in the international pageant, I was very uncomfortable wearing a two-piece swimsuit so I wore a one-piece swimsuit. No one before my year, or even after it had done this. It depends on your individual choice. No one can force you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
While Dia Mirza stated that people shouldn't do anything that makes them uncomfortable, she also remarked that if a person feels good about their body and is at ease in swimsuits, then they should go ahead and wear it. "If you feel like you are being objectified, then you should absolutely not do it. But if you are body confident and if you are comfortable in swimwear and if you don’t feel like someone is objectifying you, then you can do it," she said.
Mentioning that she has remained true to her principles for 20 years now, she added, "I never let anyone commodify or objectify me. You have seen me for 20 years now, and you have seen how I have made choices in the same direction. Lara and Priyanka were also with me, and all of us have done the same thing.”
Sushmita Sen recently talked about how her father was furious with her for wearing a swimsuit to Miss India in 1994.