“I Am Looking For Powerful Stories Of Women Told In Remarkable Ways”
As an Advocate of Nature, Dia Mirza has made headlines once again, but this time for returning to movie direction. After a six-year hiatus, she aims to weave diverse, deeply resonating stories that revolve around women’s struggles and realities.
Mirza, opening up in her recent interviews, mentioned how the pandemic has led her to think about bringing the notorious ‘nuanced female narratives’ from under the blanket of curvy middle-of-the-road fare cinema to the limelight.
Also Read: Dia Mirza Talks About Balancing Motherhood & Work: “It’s Challenging But Empowering”
Strong Women, Real Stories – That’s Her Vision
According to Dia, by virtue of being a female in a patriarchal society, she is more inclined to projecting issues facing women than of any other gender. And with that, here’s what she had to say on returning to production:
“I’m looking for powerful, incredible women with unique, extraordinary stories that are rarely told.”
Dia elaborated on her intention to support divergent representations, more so about stories anchored on real-life, multi-dimensional, multicultural women. She shares a viewpoint that the Indian audience is more than ready for stories beyond the roots.
A Conscious Creative Approach
Dia’s production house sets out to create films which are balanced between entertainment and social empathy. Her earlier work, such as Kaafir, showed compassion and explored human rights across borders, so now she is trying to build on that groundwork.
Her journey renewed as a producer coincides with the time when commercial female-driven narratives are finally being prioritised. For Dia, this momentum is encouraging, but beyond that, it is something that is fundamentally important.
She explained:
“We have seen some extraordinary work come out over the last few years, but we still have a long way to go in terms of equal representation and opportunity,” she explained.
Why Now? The Six-Year Gap
Dia noted that the break gave her a chance to concentrate on the more personal sides of her life, including her motherhood and environmental work. The need to go back to storytelling was not the strongest of calls, but the more she saw the need for inspiring empathy-driven narratives, the louder that call got.
This is a shift in focus for Dia, who plans on returning to the industry with the intention to, in her own words, “greenlight projects that matter”, with an existing sense of purpose and override her previous intentions. She suggested her future projects will consist of both digital content and films, refined through the lens of sustainable storytelling.
