‘I refuse to be a fence sitter’

Talktime| Dia mirza

Actor-turned-producer and activist Mirza was recently appointed UN’s Environment Goodwill Ambassador for India. She talks to Sangeeta Yadav about how she was stereotyped, her philanthropy work and Sanjay Dutt’s wife Maanyata in a biopic

You will be playing Maanyata’s role in the Sanjay Dutt biopic. How is that shaping up?

I’ve completed the shooting and it is slated to get released early next year. It is a significant role as Maanyata stood by Sanjay Dutt like a pillar of strength. Apart from this, there are a couple of films and digital content planned under my production house Born Free.

Has your focus shifted to philanthropy or you are not getting exciting projects?

It’s a combination of a few things. I started working in films when I was 19 and opened my production company at 26. I did a lot of films within that phase, some worked, some didn’t. It was an interesting journey and it expanded my understanding of cinema. When I ventured into production, I was resolute about wanting to do the kind of work that really satisfied me and helped me evolve. I care for the work I do outside the films as it is a very important part of who I am. Simultaneously, it isn’t easy to run a film company. All this has led me to say no to work that I believe is not worthy of me. Also, I was stereotyped.

Stereotyped?

When I turned producer, people presumed that I had given up acting. When I got married and moved to Delhi, people thought my Bollywood career was over which is absurd. When men in our industry marry, nobody talks about their careers being over. The problem in our society is that we reject the notion that an individual is capable of doing one thing at a time. We all know women multi-task better than men. If I’m driven by the passion which is multi-dimensional, I’m going to pursue each one of them.

What is your plan of action now that you are UN Environment’s Goodwill Ambassador for India?

Over the last seven years of working for environment conversation with people from all walks of life, I can see where the gaps lie and try to bridge them. We will be working towards implementing and advocating policy changes in air pollution, clean water, clean sea, climate change and wildlife protection. I want to find ways to engage the PMO, Ministry of Environment & Forests and private enterprises in the areas of education, infotainment, policy and law, and by talking to builders, municipal corporations changemakers like Dattadri Kothur and Afroz Shah.

How are you going to engage with the Government in this?

I want to work with Vividh Bharati and meet Smriti Irani, Minister of Information and Broadcasting to know what kind of broadcasting content we can generate that can help improve awareness. I believe the values that people espouse will eventually compel the Government to do better and I refuse to be a fence sitter and wait for the Government to act upon the means of the people.

Being a public personality, how does the role of philanthropy work?

When you want to contribute to social change, it does not mean you go at a grassroot level and do that. You can do it in whatever area of expertise and understanding you have. As an actor, I have the ability to connect with a larger number and use it. For instance, Amitabh Bachchan was able to eradicate polio from India through his campaign. He didn’t go to every village to give drops to the children himself.

What turned you to philanthropy?

Statistics say that seven million people are dying because of air pollution and out of 20 of the most polluted cities on the planet, 10 are in India. Whether I was travelling to forest or riverside or rural India, all I could see was the large dump of plastic everywhere and people setting them on fire. It would break my heart. What we learnt at school about how to compost, segregate waste, not to waste water, the difference between needs and wants, was not been practised in daily life. Thus, I wanted to be a sustainable change-maker to empower people with the awareness and understanding on what is the right way to dispose of non-biodegradable objects.