Dia Mirza -  nicknamed Dee, born 9 December 1981 in Hyderabad , Andhra Pradesh , India  is an Indian model and Actress and Miss Asia Pacific for the year 2000. She was also second runner up in the Miss India 2000 beauty contest.

Biography
Her father Frank Handrich was a German interior designer; her mother is Deepa Mirza, a Bengali[citation needed]. They separated when she was six years old. Her father died when she was nine and her mother remarried: Ahmed Mirza whose surname she took, died in 2004. She stated that she suffered from "low self-esteem" as a child. She retained a Muslim name (Mirza), however she considers herself Hindu and believes in Ganesha. When living in Khairatabad, Hyderabad, she attended Vidyaranya High School For Boys And Girls, a school based on the teachings of Krishnamurti, and later Nasr School, in Kushnuma. Currently, she lives in Bandra, Mumbai. To brush up on acting before Shootout at Lokhandwala, she took a one week course of Film at New York University  Dia wanted to complete her graduation in Arts by correspondence, but decided to postpone it as it was becoming difficult to juggle between the Miss Asia Pacific Competition, modeling assignments, traveling and training. She was assisted by Sabira Merchant on diction and etiquette; diet with Anjali Mukherjee; gymnasium and physical fitness with Talwalkars; clothes from Ritu Kumar and Hemant Trivedi; skin care with Dr. Jamuna Pai; and make-up and hair-care from Bharat and Doris Godambe. She likes babies and chocolates, her favorite dishes include Italian Pasta and Hyderabadi Briyani. She is proficient in Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, English, and Telugu. She currently resides on Veronica Road, Bandra (West), Mumbai. Her shoe size is 7, she has light brown eyes, brown hair, stands 5 ft 6 intall, weighs 52 kilos, and measures 33-25-36.

Career
She made her cinematic debut with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein opposite R. Madhavan. The film was not a box office success. A series of unsuccessful films followed, among them Tumsa Nahin Dekha and Deewaanapan.

In 2005, Mirza appeared in Parineeta, a Vidhu Vinod Chopra production. . She also played in the music video Kajara Mohabbat Wala from Sonu Nigam album Kajara Nite.

She has also appeared in Dus and in Fight Club. She will appear later this year in Familywala and Naa Naa Karte.

Controversies
Mirza's car was seized in 2006 for alleged evasion of custom duties.

In that same year, she and fellow-actor Aamir Khan publicly expressed support for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a group protesting the building of a dam. This aroused the ire of political activists from the Bharatiya Janata Party, who led a protest march against the actress.

Television career
Diya Mirza appeared with her best friends Sameer and Rhea on the reality based game show Kaho Naa Yaar Hai on Star Plus on March 1 2008 This show is hosted by Karan Patel

Sajid Khan also appeared on the same show with his friends as competitors for Diya Mirza and her friends. Sajid also appeared 1 March 2008.