Sarah-Jane Dias

Sarah-Jane Dias is an Indian actress, TV host, video jockey, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Femina Miss India World in 2007 and represented India at Miss World 2007. She was also a video jockey for Channel V.

Sarah-Jane Dias was born in Muscat, Oman to a Goan Catholics Konkani family. Her father, Eustace Dias, is a marketing manager with Oilfields Supply Centre and her mother is named Yolanda. She also has a sister named Elena Rose Dias.

Dias attended Indian School Al Wadi Al Kabir until Grade 10, then she joined Indian School, Muscat doing her 11th and 12th. She then attended university at Mumbai's St. Andrews College. Prior to winning Miss India World title in 2007, she had won the Miss India Oman title in 1997.

In Mumbai, Dias was discovered by Suresh Natrajan by chance when she walked onto his set and was immediately hired for the campaign he was shooting. At the age of 21, she won a talent hunt TV show, which gave her a chance to host a Channel V show. She then became the host of Get Gorgeous, a supermodel hunt TV show on the network.

In 2006, Dias featured in the music video for Australian rock group INXS's "Never Let You Go" from their album Switch.[10]

The next year Dias participated in Femina Miss India 2007.[11] She subsequently won the title of Femina Miss India World 2007 and represented the country at Miss World 2007 but was not place.[12]

Dias made her acting debut in the 2010 Tamil romantic comedy film, Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai opposite Vishal.[13] In the next year, she first made her Hindi debut with Game opposite Abhishek Bachchan and then made her Telugu debut opposite Pawan Kalyan in Panjaa. All films were box office failures.[14] The last of these earned her SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut – Telugu nomination.[15]

Dias had her first commercial success with the 2012 adult comedy film Kyaa Super Kool Hai Hum, where she played a model Anu, opposite Ritesh Deshmukh.[16] Taran Adarsh praised her performance and added that she "gets it right". She received the Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Female nomination for the film.[17]

Post a year hiatus, she appeared in O Teri opposite Pulkit Samrat, playing a senior journalist Monsoon.[18] In the same year, she played Laila, a host in Happy New Year, alongside Shah Rukh Khan.[19] In 2015, Dias played a fashion photographer, Frieda in Angry Indian Goddesses.[20] Her performance was mostly well received by critics. While Namrata Joshi of The Hindu noted that she shows "admirable poise", Anna MM Vetticad termed her a "revelation".[21][22]

In 2016, she played Amira in Zubaan, opposite Vicky Kaushal.[23] Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times noted, "After a fabulous job in Angry Indian Goddesses, Sarah Jane Dias only gets better here."[24] In 2017, she appeared in the English film, Viceroy's House.[25]

Post these films, Dias has many appeared in web series. In 2017, she played major roles in Inside Edge, Time Out and had a special appearance in Ultimate Beastmaster. In 2019, she played Rose in Parchhayee.[26] In 2021, she played a politician's wife Ayesha, opposite Saif Ali Khan in Tandav.[27]

In 2022, Dias played Lavanyaa in the second season ofNever Kiss Your Best Friend, opposite Nakuul Mehta.[28] Writing for News 18, Zinia Bandyopadhyay stated, "Sarah Jane Dias portrays the vulnerability of her character under the tough exterior with ease." Her performance earned her the ITA Award for Best Supporting Actress - Drama (OTT).[29]

In 2023, Dias first played Julia in an episode of Made in Heaven and then played a CIA agent Radha in The Freelancer.[30][31]