On a Date with Dia Mirza: Part – 1

Our masala chai arrives. The aroma is intense. Dia refuses to have the hot tea and urges me to go ahead with it. I hesitate and answer, Read More">“Not now love. I don’t have tea alone.” How impressive was that? Don’t know. Really don’t know. Now she is curious and alert. “I don’t prefer it inRead More

Our masala chai arrives. The aroma is intense. Dia refuses to have the hot tea and urges me to go ahead with it. I hesitate and answer, "Not now love. I don't have tea alone." How impressive was that? Don't know. Really don't know. Now she is curious and alert. "I don't prefer it in this hot weather. Not for now at least" she answers. I question again, "Recall your last date Dia". In a spur of a moment, she replies, "I think it was four years ago. I was asked out for a date because that doesn't happen today. Either men feel too intimidated or scared or God knows what! I was really excited to go out on a date after a long time. It was dinner at Olive restaurant and bar in Bandra. I was given a flower." She adds in the same breath, "I thought it was cute and a sweet gesture. He wasn't trying too hard. I felt like I was in school again because there was this innocence about the whole thing."

Outspoken and fearless, she wears that smile again after the completion of her answer. She admits that she was a lot protective in her upbringing days while in Hyderabad, where she grew up. "When we did went in groups while in school and college, our friends would make sure that the couple who are interested in each other would be left alone for some time or were made sure that they sat together in a movie theatre. It was an awkward innocence but was cute", Dia recalls. It's the truth but the fact that we've never read Dia Mirza's gossip stories in newspapers. I can't recall but she does, "There have been some hot stories where I've been linked with married men I can't stand that. It's a big issue with me. I'd rather be linked with a single attractive man where there could be a possibility of me having something to do with."

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Dia’s had small parts in big movies but that’s what brings her up the ladder of success. And then on meeting her in person, Read More">you notice that she is happier on the outskirts of fame too. She wants to be known as an actor than a celebrity. How often do you get that from anyRead More

Dia's had small parts in big movies but that's what brings her up the ladder of success. And then on meeting her in person, you notice that she is happier on the outskirts of fame too. She wants to be known as an actor than a celebrity. How often do you get that from any damsel? The more you look at her, the better your afternoon gets. So I try this, "What if I take you to the rocks on the Bandstand area for a date". She was ready…and how, "Right now?" Dia asks me. In the same breath she continues, "I thought people who don't have a place to go, go there. Majority of the people sitting on the rocks facing the sea side don't have a budget to go out on a date and thus sit on the rocks. I've never seen any educated or an upper middle class part of the society going and sitting there. It's sad but that's the truth".

On screen, Mirza can exude an exaggerated, yet sometimes, a vampish beauty. In person she's smaller, slighter than you'd expect, as though her image were the result of some chemical reaction between her face and the movie camera. She talks like a parrot sometimes. In between our conversation, Dia uses the 'Hyderabad' word more than she uses my name. To know more on my thought of sitting on the rocks with her, I ask "What went through your mind when you saw these romantic couples sitting and getting cozy for the first time when you came to Mumbai?" Dia's Hyderabadi nature comes to the fore, "I was shocked. I was a Hyderabadi girl yaar. I'd never ever seen people openly making out in public." See what I meant?

Dia doesn't hold back. She says, "What I meant was that these people have their own space. And one couple sits so close to the other couple that the guy who will not even look at the chic who is sitting on the other side of the other guy. That is so amazing. They do not intrude in each others privacy. The privacy being just one imaginary wall." As soon as Dia's answer got over, the angel on my right shoulder murmured something in my ears - 'Go ahead Dev, ask her'. The devil on my left said, 'Do not even think about it'. I thought and listened to nobody except my heart and asked Mirza, "If I am serious about any celebrity and if I want to ask her out or confess my interest for her, how should I go ahead with it?"

The angel answers, "Be straight about it. Just say it." The angel wasn't on my shoulder then…it was sitting right in front of my eyes, except that she didn't have wings….but wisdom. Thank you Dia!

Part 2 of Dia's date continues…Watch this space!

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What if you’re meeting the woman of your dreams and then shockingly inform her, “If there’s one celebrity I’d like to get married to, it’d be you.” Yes, Read More">that was me who was courageous enough to be truthful to Dia Mirza. Now it’s up to her to take it seriously if she wants. On theRead More

What if you're meeting the woman of your dreams and then shockingly inform her, "If there's one celebrity I'd like to get married to, it'd be you." Yes, that was me who was courageous enough to be truthful to Dia Mirza. Now it's up to her to take it seriously if she wants. On the other hand, I was feeling like the world's most eligible bachelor sitting right next to her in her wonderfully decorated second floor apartment with bright coloured cushions adoring her seating area. It was 4.15 pm on Friday, 8th March. I was fifteen minutes late. That's a bad start, I admit. I keep the shiny surprise behind the main door as Mirza's maid opens the door. It was time to surprise her with a special gift wrapped in golden paper. "Will you have some tea?" the maid asks me and my photographer. "Not right now, let Dia arrive, thank you", I answer. And in precisely three and a half minutes, my 'date' for the day arrives. Wrapped in blue denims, a loose white top which showcased her flawless figure and a red necklace touching her bare neck, Dia Mirza came across as a cappuccino of warmth and froth. She looks me up and down for one intense second, and then proceeds with an innate intimacy - a warm hug and a frothy smile. Her face is babyishly pretty, a contrast to her energy, which seems unstoppably self-assured. She is so ethereal that you want to hold her and place her in a safe spot so that no one spots her. Dia is a perennial pin up which you want to showcase to all your family and friends, but then she takes nothing for granted. "You're late and that's not good." I felt like a rotten tomato, already squashed by seeing a beauty like Mirza and made into a pulp after her righteous statement.

To cover things up, I get up and go next to her door which had her surprise all wrapped up. "That's for you sweetheart. I love giving gifts to my dates", I quote. "That's so good. Lemme guess what it is. I think it's a photo frame", she replies. As she carefully takes off the golden paper, I ask her, "Are you going to take a good time to unwrap your surprise?" Dia is quick to comment, "Yes, because someone has tried hard to wrap it up, isn't it?" After a few silent seconds, the compliment pours, "I love the candle stand and the photo frame. It's beautiful. I can see your creativity." And that's what separates Dia Mirza from being just another Bollywood babe - her honesty and likability factor. She tries, but not too hard. She's sexy, but not too sexy. She makes an effort, but not too much of one. There's no doubt about it. Mirza is mesmerizing. Hot and cold, withdrawn and flirty, disciplined and out of control, sometimes.

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We are in a creamy sunlit room sitting at an arms distance. But right away you know there’s something unusual about Dia. She looks at you, Read More">tries to work out where you’re coming from. I start coughing. She sees to it that the tea I’d ordered was consumed quickly. She doesn’t talk in platitudes. YouRead More

We are in a creamy sunlit room sitting at an arms distance. But right away you know there's something unusual about Dia. She looks at you, tries to work out where you're coming from. I start coughing. She sees to it that the tea I'd ordered was consumed quickly. She doesn't talk in platitudes. You can see her brain working hard to try to never do that. On the flip side, my brain was working too fast and pat comes the next one, "What if I was to take you out on a lovely dinner tonight at Indigo restaurant?" My dream come true moment had arrived after her surprised answer, "I'd probably fall in love with you", answers Mirza. But the answer wasn't complete. She adds, "I am inclined to believe that the best way to a woman's heart is through her stomach. Hey, that's another exciting memory you've brought back. It was somebody I dated a couple of years ago. He was a really good chef. Our first date was when he had churned out a seven course meal and I felt like a princess." Humorously she continues, "Most of our date was spent inside the kitchen as he had to prepare the next dish and bring it out."

There was this sweetness to her embarrassment of bringing out her past two dates when her present one (that was me) was sitting right next to her. I try to change the topic of conversation.

"I think that a photo frame and a candle stand really go hand in hand. All my dates deserve it." But unknowingly I'd made a fool out of myself when she replied, "You give all your dates the same present?" I shudder to think. Dia says, "I can't believe you did that. I'm so upset. I thought you must've put some thought into my present."

That's what happens when you're in love. It is so true. You speak what you don't have to and I was treading the same path till things started to get a bit better. I doubled it up with, "Yes, I did. But I gave her a small candle stand because she was a new comer. You deserve a big one as you're pretty successful." True to her humor, she replies, "So the next time you meet me it better be a five foot one."

"I wish I could cook something for you as I'm a good cook too", I offer my date. "So you claim that you're a good cook huh? But I like this because I can verify everything you say. How often do you get that on a date?"

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Bingo! That wasn’t the last laugh as the room was soon going to be filled with a Moroccan ambience. I answer, “I’d love to cook some Moroccan food for you sweetheart. The menu consists of some couscous, Read More">hot pitta bread with cold humus and some falafel. Moroccan music to go with it and Oh laRead More

Bingo! That wasn't the last laugh as the room was soon going to be filled with a Moroccan ambience. I answer, "I'd love to cook some Moroccan food for you sweetheart. The menu consists of some couscous, hot pitta bread with cold humus and some falafel. Moroccan music to go with it and Oh la la!"

"Not a bad choice" was heard from Mirza. But she was happy to pounce on, "If I was to cook something for you, it'll have to be a mouth watering Hyderabadi Zafrani Biryani with some Italian food." She looks right at you when you're answering and you start to feel uncomfortable. "I think you're so uncomfortable. Do you want a fan on?" asks Dia. And can someone tell me what was I suppose to do when I was sitting next to a woman who I consider the second most beautiful celebrity in Indian cinema after Aishwarya Rai Bachchan? Good for me that the earlier is married now. In the afternoon which was getting hotter than ever in every which way, it was time to get a bit more comfy because it was all about understanding a person with whom I was truly, madly and deeply in love with.

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