Freida Pinto: Living the million dollar life
WHAT do you do when you have to wait around for actors?" asks Freida Pinto after apologising for the two-hour delay. "I hate sitting around backstage and waiting for questions to be asked."
And questions are being asked — a lot, considering the buzz around Slumdog Millionaire. Did the 24-year-old model turned actress anticipate the movie would be this big? "Not at all," she gushes. "Everything Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy (screenplay writer) touch, turns to gold. But you can never anticipate this."
The cast themselves have great stories to tell like how the photo in the posters was shot separately while Dev was in London and they had to struggle to get that infectious smile he sports in the poster, while filming the movie. They seem to be enjoying each other's company too. Freida was lead actor Dev's "official tour guide when he was here," says Freida. Just before we sit to talk, she moves to take a call from Rubiana Ali who plays the youngest Latika. They are making plans to meet up with Dev and 'Danny Uncle' and coordinating outfits for the premiere of the film.
Just another great dress to add to her wardrobe of fabulous designer wear. "All have a special reason I picked them," she says when we ask her to choose her favourite red carpet dress. "But if I had to pick… I like all the Chanel dresses I wore till now — they just fit me like a glove. I also like the Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla saree I wore to the London Film Festival. It was a lovely muted tone." Though her favourite, she says, has to be the blue Ronald Mouret dress she wore to the Palm Spring Festival because it was so simple and exquisite. On the red carpet she was seen in colours from mustard to teal to white but look inside her wardrobe and all you will find is black. "My mother opens my cupboard and says 'it's like night in here'," she laughs. What you won't find in her cupboard, though, are bubble dresses because they are "completely out," says Freida, who loves the less-is-more trend.Seen in Jean Paul Gaultier, Zac Posen and Christian Lacroix, Freida says there was no temptation to go with Indian designers. It's more about a dress befitting the occasion than the designer, she says, while insisting that Indian designers do a fantastic job. And rightly so, for the interview, she sports a black halter neck dress by Gauri and Nainika. Designer Nanette Lepore especially gave her the pair of black booties she is wearing with the dress because she has, "Big feet. I got two such black pairs!"
While doing the award circuit, she has walked along some of the greatest names in Hollywood including her idol Angelina Jolie who, she believes, along with Kate Beckinsale, carries herself with great poise on the red carpet. She also loves Mickey Rourke's look at the Golden Globes, with a chain hanging from his pant pocket, as it was very rock star like. Though she wishes she had gone up and spoken to Leonardo DiCaprio whom she has had a crush on since Titanic "My friends think I'm stupid not to have told Leonardo DiCaprio what a huge crush I've had on him. It was doubly special meeting Clint Eastwood as my mother is a huge fan of his. When you meet them personally, you realise that the industry is filled with real people," she says.
Yet walking the red carpets was no easy feat and this is where her experience as a model came in handy. "It helped me pose better on the red carpet," she laughs. "My signature pose is the look over the shoulder but I think the best pictures are the candid smiles."
With this sudden fame come her way, Freida says she misses normalcy. The good part about it is that those who had held grudges are now calling to congratulate her. She also has to keep reminding herself that she is now doing press and promotions in India and that people here are very different from those abroad. "Just now I was taking a picture with this guy and I put my arm around him and he said, 'Please take your arm off, my wife will not like it'," giggles Freida. She seems so open and chatty that we are tempted to probe a little. But she squashes any intention by saying, "I am very reserved and that might come across as being a cold b***h. Everybody wants to know about my personal life. What my mother does. Should I also tell you what my grandmother and great-grandfather did?" she asks sarcastically. That means no questions about boyfriends will be entertained. Ever.
Questions about the movie's chances at the Oscars are more than welcome. Now that the movie has been nominated, her chosen outfit would be something that she feels great in. "I tell my stylist in US 'you can give me as many clothes but when I wear a dress and go wow, it has to be that one'," says the girl who wants to be known as an actor and not a star. From the looks of it, though, critics and moviegoers will award this actor with stars.
Freida picks
Flats or stilettos: Flats! Its easier on the ankles.
Red carpet style or lounging at home on the carpet: After doing the red carpet, lounging at home on the carpet.
Vintage or contemporary: Vintage has its place but for everyday wear, contemporary.
Clutches or big bags: A big bag to put your clutch into. I have a big bag and my friends ask if I carry the world in it.
Chunky jewellery or small elegant ones: Elegant ones
Boho or chic: I do not do Boho, so chic.
