Dia Mirza was born in Hyderabad on December 9, 1981, to Deepa, a Bengali interior designer, and Frank Handrich, a German industrial designer. She grew up attending school in Khairatabad, and went on to pursue Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanley Junior College, Andhra Pradesh Open University.

While studying, Mirza also began working in the marketing department of a media studio, and took on several modelling assignments, both in print media and television commercials. She rose to fame in the year 2000, when she participated in the Femina Miss India pageant, and won the title of Miss India Asia Pacific. As a result, she entered the Miss Asia Pacific 2000 competition as India’s representative and won the title.

Mirza entered the film industry soon after her modelling successes, making her Hindi film debut in Gautham Menon’s Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001). Though the film itself did not do particularly well, it got Mirza some recognition, in part due to its extremely popular soundtrack. She won the Zee Cine Awards for the Best Debut, and the Bollywood Movie Award for the Best Debut Newcomer, for this film as well.

Since then, she has appeared in numerous films including Tehzeeb (2002), Dum (2003), Dus (2005), Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007), and Acid Factory (2009). She then entered into the domain of film production with Love Breakups Zindagi (2011). The following year, she appeared in her first Bengali language film, Pratim D. Gupta’s Paanch Adhyay (2012), which was immensely successful and earned a lot of critical acclaim at festivals all around the world.

Besides acting, Mirza’s contributions to social causes have been notable. She has worked extensively to support cancer patients and spastics, and to spread awareness about HIV through her association with Cancer Patients Aid Association, Spastics Society of India, and the Andhra Pradesh government. She has worked with PETA and CRY to promote animal welfare and child rights, and has supported several environmental causes and organizations including Greenpeace India and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. A recent twitter update regarding the celebration of Holi and the consequent wastage of water, led to much backlash. She also won a number of awards for her work for environmental causes, such as the Green Globe Honor in 2011, the IIFA Green Award in 2012, and the Sixth Geospa Asiaspa India Awards in 2013.

This is perhaps influenced by Mirza’s relationship with her mother, whom she has spoken extensively about, and details the influence her mother had on her during her childhood, and about the importance she placed on doing good deeds.