Bollywood diva Dia Mirza, who was crowned Miss Asia Pacific in 2000, opened up on the frequent comparisons to the career graph of Miss India co-finalists Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra. 2000 was a big year for Indian pageantry, as all three finalists of Miss India, Dia Mirza, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta went on to win three international beauty crowns, i.e. Miss Asia Pacific, Miss World and Miss Universe respectively. As all three of them entered Bollywood later, there have always been undeniable comparisons of their career graph in the film industry. Addressing these comparisons in the latest interview, Mirza emphasized how all three beauty queens and Bollywood divas came from different backgrounds and managed to carve out individually distinct paths for themselves, despite early struggles. “Priyanka still had some support from her parents, but Lara and I didn’t. Lara was already living here because she was modelling and she had opened her heart to me and shared her apartment, which was the size of a matchbox,” she recalled. “I remember helping her pack for her Miss Universe and going away.” Mirza continued to recount her and Dutta’s financial struggles and added, “We shared Wai Wai noodles because paise nahi the (we had no money). Lara and I modelled and saved that money. Neither of us used any money from our parents to do anything.” “Even in Priyanka’s situation, she had solid support, and her parents were very involved, but with us, we just had what we had earned and saved. There’d be days when savings would run out, and payments would be due. We would be sitting in these expensive gowns coming back from fancy events and choosing Wai Wai because that’s all we could afford,” the ‘Nadaaniyan’ actor recalled. “Priyanka was just doing extraordinarily well, almost from the get-go. She had other battles to fight and deal with, and some of those intensified with time. But she was doing really well. I really had awe and respect for it. I remember thinking to myself, ‘My God, if I was half the actress she is, how much further I would be able to go’,” Mirza shared.