Dia Mirza won the title of Miss India Asia Pacific 2000 and Miss Asia Pacific International 2000. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the title of Miss World 1994. So when Dia was debuting in films with Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein in 2001 she was compared to Aishwarya Rai. Did not consider herself beautiful In an interview on Zoom Dia said When I was debuting I was compared to many beauty queens especially Aishwarya Rai. People wanted me to look like her. However I realized very quickly that it is not necessary to be fair or have blue eyes to look beautiful. Dia further said When I was debuting only fair people were considered beautiful. You know for the first 3-4 years of my career I used to wear blue lenses in my eyes so that I could look like Aishwarya. I could meet the standard of beauty. The strange thing was that even after winning Miss India Asia Pacific and Miss Asia Pacific International I did not consider myself beautiful.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Dia Mirza Rekhi (@diamirzaofficial) Even today I get scared after watching that movie Dia shared her experience of working in Mahesh Manjrekars black comedy film Praan Jaaye Par Shaan Na Jaaye (2003). Dia said It was a very unique film. I played the role of a girl in this film who was not considered beautiful by the society. I remember I used to be made up. I was shown black and the color of my eyes was kept as it is. At the end of the film the girl undergoes a transformation so when the transformation happened I was shown fair and the color of my eyes was changed. I was made to wear grey colored lenses. I did not have the understanding to understand all this then but today when I watch the scenes of that film I get scared. I shudder.