BMC deletes Dia Mirza’s anti-cracker video after backlash: A look at her history of performative environmental activism and public sermons
· OpIndia
Bollywood actress Dia Mirza has found herself at the centre of a controversy after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) deleted her anti-firecracker video from its social media accounts following objections from BJP Mumbai president Ameet Satam.
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The actress had appeared in a civic awareness campaign urging Mumbaikars not to burst firecrackers during Diwali. However, Satam questioned why the BMC needed to enlist Mirza to tell people how to celebrate a festival deeply rooted in Indian traditions.
“We don’t need lessons on how to celebrate #Diwali from @deespeak. Our traditions are deeply rooted in our culture,” Satam wrote on X.
The BMC subsequently removed the video without offering an official explanation. Interestingly, similar appeals featuring Madhuri Dixit, Ajinkya Rahane and Marathi actress Nishigandha Wad continued to remain online.
After her video was removed, Mumbai Mayor Rity Tawde slammed the actor, saying that she shouldn’t teach Hindus how to celebrate Diwali. Twade also accused her of running a selective agenda and siding with divisive forces.
VIDEO | Mumbai: Mayor Ritu Tawde, on the controversy over actor Dia Mirza’s pollution-free Diwali video, says, "Dia Mirza shouldn’t teach us how to celebrate Diwali. She may continue working on her selective agenda. Dia Mirza has always sided with divisive forces. She had trolled PM Modi too. She has always been anti-Hindutva." (Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/bIyFWTfmBd)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 2, 2026
Mirza has since defended her participation, saying the video was recorded in the interest of public awareness and that air pollution is a public health concern.
But this controversy has brought back an uncomfortable question about the actress’s much-publicised performative environmental activism. Over the years, Mirza has repeatedly used her celebrity status to advocate sustainable living, lecture people about plastic consumption and offer explanations for environmental degradation. But she has often been found not following them herself.
Here is a look at the controversies surrounding Dia Mirza’s environmental activism.
1. When Dia Mirza’s five-year-old son schooled a coconut delivery worker on plastic pollution
In June 2026, Mirza appeared on Soha Ali Khan’s podcast and narrated an incident involving her five-year-old son, Avyaan, and a coconut water delivery worker.
According to the actress, the worker had arrived with coconuts packed in plastic bags and plastic straws. Her son objected to the packaging and instructed the delivery worker to take the plastic back, as it was not allowed in their house.
Mirza appeared to take pride in her son’s environmental awareness and his willingness to stand up against plastic consumption.
However, the anecdote exposed a rather peculiar approach to environmental activism.
A delivery worker is hardly responsible for deciding how a business packages its products. He is merely delivering an order. If Mirza has an issue with plastic packaging, the logical response would be to address the supplier or find an alternative arrangement rather than turn an interaction with a delivery worker into a lesson on environmental consciousness.
The actress appeared to celebrate her child’s intervention without considering the position of the person standing at her doorstep and doing his job.
Environmental awareness is important. But so is understanding the economic realities of people who cannot dictate the packaging practices of the businesses they work with.
2. When Dia Mirza declared that patriarchy causes climate change
Earlier in June 2026, Mirza triggered another controversy during her appearance on Soha Ali Khan’s podcast.
Discussing climate change, she made an extraordinary assertion that men had driven the climate crisis and were responsible for the resulting chaos.
“It is the men in this world. It is the men who have driven climate change, and they are totally responsible for the chaos,” she said.
She also declared that patriarchy was the cause of climate change.
The actress subsequently clarified that she was referring to patriarchal systems of domination, extraction and consumption, rather than blaming every individual man.
However, the original remarks raised questions about the tendency to turn complicated environmental challenges into ideological arguments.
Climate change is driven by several interconnected factors, including fossil fuel consumption, industrialisation, deforestation, corporate emissions and government policies. Reducing this enormous challenge to patriarchy is hardly an adequate explanation.
For someone who frequently speaks about environmental awareness, a more substantive discussion about practical solutions would arguably have been more useful.
3. The environmental footprint of celebrity lifestyles
Mirza has built a public identity around sustainable living and reducing environmental damage. She has frequently advocated limiting plastic consumption and adopting environmentally responsible practices.
But celebrity activism also raises a question that is rarely addressed with sufficient seriousness: what is the environmental footprint of the lifestyles enjoyed by the very celebrities who lecture ordinary people?
Mirza has often seen in luxury automobiles, and there is a video of Mirza driving a motorcycle doing the rounds on the internet.
Environmental responsibility cannot be measured only by the number of awareness videos a celebrity records or the number of campaigns she endorses. It must also involve consistency in everyday consumption.
4. From environmental campaigns to a Diwali lecture: The latest controversy
The latest episode began after the Bombay High Court pulled up the BMC over rising air pollution and its failure to effectively regulate firecracker use.
The court suggested that celebrities should participate in public awareness campaigns without charging fees. Acting on the observations, the BMC approached several prominent personalities, including Mirza, Madhuri Dixit and Ajinkya Rahane.
Mirza’s video urged citizens to avoid bursting firecrackers and contributing to noise pollution.
Satam objected to her inclusion, saying Indians did not need celebrities to teach them how to celebrate their festivals.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Shaina NC also questioned the message, emphasising Diwali’s cultural significance. Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, meanwhile, said that while excessive pollution was a concern, people also had a constitutional right to celebrate their festivals.
Mirza responded that her message was about public health and a healthier celebration, not an attempt to undermine Diwali.
The BMC eventually deleted her video, although it has not explained why similar videos featuring other celebrities remain online.
5. The larger question about celebrity activism
There is nothing wrong with Dia Mirza advocating cleaner air, reduced plastic consumption or sustainable living. These are legitimate concerns, and celebrities can certainly use their popularity to promote public awareness.
But public awareness should not become public sermonising.
Indians do not need to be treated as though they are incapable of understanding their traditions or making decisions about their celebrations. Nor should people working ordinary jobs become convenient examples in stories about a celebrity family’s environmental consciousness.
The same environmental standards that celebrities expect ordinary citizens to follow must also apply to them. Advocacy becomes more credible when it is accompanied by humility, consistency and an understanding of ground realities.
The BMC’s decision to delete Mirza’s video may have settled the immediate controversy, but it has reopened a much larger debate about celebrity activism, cultural sensitivity and the tendency of Bollywood personalities to assume the role of moral instructors.