Dia Mirza became a household name after the massive success of ‘Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein’ (‘RHTDM’). Those were different times, and if one had to make the same movie all over again, they would definitely have to face the ire of today’s woke audience. To be fair, today’s youth, who’re probably seeing the film for the first time, are opening up about their utter disgust over certain plots in the film.

We all remember how in ‘RHTDM’, R Madhavan’s character Maddy constantly stalks Dia Mirza’s character Reena Malhotra. To add to that, he even impersonates Saif Ali Khan’s character and lies to Dia Mirza throughout and manipulates her into falling in love with him.

Today’s woke audiences wouldn’t tolerate things like stalking, lying and manipulating even if it’s done for the sake of attaining true love. The actress herself has also spoken quite a number of times about these issues with ‘RHTDM’.

Talking to Prateek Sur, Dia Mirza doesn’t shy away from calling a spade a spade. Excerpts from the candid chat:

I won’t be lying when I say that you still look like Reena Malhotra from ‘RHTDM’. What should people do so that they can also remain young forever just like you?

I assume this is a compliment, and I am all for it, Thank you! To answer your question, I don’t associate beauty with age. I am a very happy, secure 41-year-old who looks back at the last 23 years with a deep sense of gratitude. There is a sense of wonder, excitement, and love that I feel for the craft and I really and truly believe in the power of storytelling. I enjoy being on screen and a part of my choice. I wish I was doing a lot more film work but there are few characters written for women my age. I hope that our choices as women change that common problem and that there is a better representation of women in films as writers, directors, cinematographers, editors, and producers. Raising the issue of women's representation can help alter this unfortunate circumstance we find ourselves in as women. I am happy being 41, and I am grateful for Reena Malhotra. But there is so much to look forward to in my 40s that I am so excited about.

‘RHTDM’ has attained cult status. But do you think a story like that would survive the backlash today? Considering it had the lead hero pretty much going to stalker status to get the girl he loves. And in the end, without any police complaints or anything, he even manages to get the girl. Would such a film get an audience if it was made today?

I can't speak about whether that film can be made or not because all kinds of films are going around. But if I was offered that film, I would question certain aspects of the film and hope that the writers would change it. I internalized some aspects of that film and realized that had to do with the right propagation of love. I am strongly against stalking. I think it is a terrible thing to do. Not only does Maddy's character stalk Reena, but he also lies to her. Of course, she breaks off the relationship with him once she discovers the truth only to then realize that he is remorseful and genuinely loves and cares for her. But there is no justification in this world for stalking, lying is bad, and stalking is worse. I know that some films have been made in the recent past that had similar scenes that have done exceptionally well at the box-office. I guess as a society we don’t perceive stalking as a bad thing. I feel our films are responsible for spreading that sense of falsehood as the right thing.