New Delhi: Actor Dia Mirza, who debuted with 'Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein' in 2001, recently spoke about her struggling days. In an interview, Dia revealed that she also worked in the Tamil film industry as a background dancer.  


In a conversation with Times of India, Dia shared that before starting her career as a model and an actor, she used to work as a background dancer in the Tamil film industry. She appeared in the ‘Jumbalakka’ song alongside Mink in the film En Swasa Kaatre in 1999. The film starred Arvind Swamy and Isha Koppikar in the lead. 


“I played as what they call an extra in a song. It made me enough money to go and shoot my first professional portfolio. We shot for the song in Ramoji Rao Film City. I was there with 4-5 friends and we had a great time. Raju Sundaram was dancing, Mink was part of the song, it was a great experience. And we earned good money so that we could go back and do the things that we wanted to do,” she was quoted as saying by Times of India. 



The actor also shared about her first music video, which she did at the age of 15. "It was composed by M M Keeravani. We shot the video entirely in Hyderabad. I have been looking for the song on YouTube,” she told the Times of India. 


Dia won the Miss India Asia Pacific crown in 2000 and made her film debut in 2001. 


On the work front, Dia’s film 'Bheed', also starring Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, is running in cinema halls. The film is directed by Anubhav Sinha. 


‘Bheed' was the first project that Dia had signed after motherhood. Being away from her son Avyaan for an extended shoot, was one of the most emotionally challenging experiences for her. 
 
She told IANS, "The separation from my son lent itself to the part I was playing. The separation anxiety of being apart from my six-month-old baby was very difficult to cope with. Avyaan was not allowed to travel and I had to leave him in Mumbai with my mother and Vaibhav (Rekhi) while I worked on this film. It's possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to do". 


Dia will next be seen in Shah Rukh Khan’s upcoming film ‘Dunki.’