The gorgeous Dia Mirza is a former model and current Indian actress & producer. She was born on 9th December 1981 in Hyderabad India. Her full name is Dia Mirza Handrich but people who know her well also call her Dee, and Dee is also her screen name on the popular social networking site Twitter. Her father Frank Handrich was a German and he was an architect and artist by profession. Her mother Deepa was a Bengali interior designer. After the death of her German father, her mother remarried Ahmed Mirza, who also passed away in 2004. She is a graduate in Bachelors of Arts. She shot to fame in the year 2000 where she ended second runner’s up at Miss India. She then took park in Miss Asia Pacific contest and became the first Indian in 29 years to win the competition. She was crowned Miss Asia pacific on 3rd December in Manila, Philippines.

She made her bollywood start with the movie Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein in which she was paired with R. Madhavan. The movie did not turn out to be a box office hit but Dia’s work was appreciated and it lead to her being nominated for the Best Debut Female at numerous award functions. Her next big movie was Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge opposite Salman Khan, where she played a Village girl. The movie turned out to be big Hit and kick started Dia’s bollywood career. She then got the chance to play the role of Naazneen Jamal in Khalid Muhammad’s drama film Tehzeeb. Although her role in the movie was brief she won accolades by the critics.

In the year 2005 she starred in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Parineeta alongside Saif Ali Khan, Sunjay Dutt & Vidya Balan. The movie turned out to be a successful venture and the critics also appreciated the movie a lot. In 2006 Vidhu Vinod Chopra again signed her in his next movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai, in which she played the role of Simran alongside Sunjay Dutt, Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi & Abhishek Bachan (Special Appearance). The movie was a smash hit and Dia again won rave reviews for her acting. In 2007 she appeared in four movies but only Ekta Kapoor’s Shootout at Lokhandwala went on to be a box office success. Since the movie was an out and out male hero oriented movie Dia did not get much scope for acting. Dia Mirza worked in as many as five movies in the year 2009, but unfortunately for her none of her movies were successful. One of her movies, Kurbaan in which she had a special appearance was hailed by the critics but due to its terrorism based themes it did not appeal to the audience. Her portrayal of Reporter Rehana was also much appreciated. In her movie The Acid Factory she was the only female surrounded by six male characters, and she played the role of a mobster in this thriller.

Over the years Dia Mirza has been the brand ambassador of Walls, Lipton, Emami and many other prominent brands. Dia Mirza recently collaborated with actor Zayed Khan and her boyfriend Sahil and established a production house called “Born Free Entertainment” and their first venture Love Breakups Zindagee is due for an October 2011 release. The trio used the IIFA awards platform in Toronto to promote their upcoming flick. Diya Mirza and Zayed Khan also play lead roles in the movie.

Apart from modeling and acting Dia Mirza has been an active member for a lot of social causes. Her work for PETA, Cry & HIV has been exemplary.