3 min readNew DelhiMar 15, 2013 06:13 PM IST
Indian actress Freida Pinto says she never shunned Indian cinema but her sensibilities did not match with the kind of cinema being made in Bollywood earlier.
The actress,however,is now keen to be a part of the changing industry where films like Paan Singh Tomar and Shahid are being made.
“I like Indian movies too. I never called Indian cinema rubbish. But I have always believed that sensibilities can differ. I couldn’t relate to the kind of movies being made but the cinema is changing drastically now with films like Paan Singh Tomar,Shahid and Gattu. I can find my place here now and how,” Freida said at the India Today Conclave 2013.
The 28-year-old shot to fame with 2008 Slumdog Millionaire and since then has worked in international projects like Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,Rise of the Planet of the Apes opposite James Franco and Trishna.
She says if acting wouldn’t have worked out for her she would have become a wedding planner.
“People have a plan A and plan B. I didn’t. My only passion was acting,I had no other option. I thought I would become a wedding planner if I didn’t make it by the time I was 25,” Freida said.
The actress said when she set out to launch a career in Hollywood,her biggest effort was to avoid being stereotyped as the “token Indian girl” and it helped her bagging roles beyond her ethnicity.
Story continues below this ad
“I played the racial ambiguity card when I had to look for roles in the west. I remember talking to my agent and asking her how will she get me roles because I was an Indian. She told me,’Don’t try and fit in,stick out’.
“I didn’t want to be the ethnic Indian girl,but I had no problem doing ethnic roles,” said Freida.
She was 23 when she shot to fame with Slumdog Millionaire and Freida admits success came too quick to her and it was difficult to handle.
“It was hard as I was in the limelight and I wasn’t rehearsed. Yes I was dazzled and I don’t come from a filmy background or have won a pageant. So it was difficult but I know it might sound cliche… But I have a very grounded family and friend circle so they helped me stay in reality whenever I tried to step out of it.”
