“I am not famous in India” -- Freida Pinto
“Slumdog Millionaire” actress Freida Pinto hails from the seaside city of Mumbai, hub of the Indian entertainment industry and home to Bollywood.
So perhaps it's a little ironic that Pinto, who has quickly become one of Hollywood's hot young stars, hasn't yet received any major Bollywood offers.
Since “Slumdog”, Freida has acted in Woody Allen's “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger”, alongside stars like Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas, and starred in the politically-charged film “Miral”. She will soon appear in Tarsem Singh's new movie “Immortals”, alongside “The Wrestler” star Mickey Rourke, “Twilight” star Kellan Lutz and English actor Henry Cavill.
At one point, there were even rumours that Freida would star opposite Daniel Craig in the next “James Bond” movie!
All of that, and she's still yet to sign a Hindi-language project.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times Style Magazine Women's September edition, Freida opened up on her future career plans and her love life, and gave a little peak into the Hollywood/Bollwood gulf.
“I have done no film in India, so it is very hard for people to accept me as an actress. They don't really know who I am or they probably don't take me too seriously,” PTI reported the actress as telling the New York Times.
“I haven't been directly approached to do a Bollywood film. After 'Slumdog Millionaire' I was given scripts to read but was not directly approached. I don't think I fit the bill. I am not famous in India. I don't get chased around,” she said.
In the interview, Pinto also discussed her controversial break-up with fiancé Rohan Antao, whom she dumped before becoming romantically linked with “Slumdog” co-star Dev Patel.
“I feel what I did was right. There were no two ways about it,” she said. “Everyone is going to write you off for one thing or another, but you know what? It's my life, and if I didn't go through it, I wouldn't be the person I am today, sitting here talking about what happened back then and being a little more knowledgeable about what happens in relationships.”
For the past few months, rumours have cropped up suggesting an impending wedding date for Patel and Pinto, but thus far both camps have denied the gossip.