Freida Pinto: ‘I may not have done anything in Bollywood, but will always be participating in stories about my culture’

Freida Pinto has received an overwhelming response for playing Selina Dalton in filmmaker Emma Holly Jones’ period drama Mr. Malcolm's List, which hit theatres in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2023.

The actress recently appeared in an interview with The Guardian where she talked about the film and her character in detail. During the interview, she was also asked why she never embraced Bollywood despite hailing from India and receiving huge love from the Indian audience post the global success of her Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire in 2008.

Pinto said in her response, “It is not that I have not embraced Bollywood. Slumdog Millionaire was an international film but still set in India with an all-Indian cast. It just happened to propel me into the international film and TV business. I got really busy and did nine films in two and a half years. I just went with the flow, but I am very proud of the Indian films and TV shows I have been part of. I may not have done anything in Bollywood, but will certainly always be participating in stories about my culture.”

The actress is currently waiting for the premiere of her upcoming series where she portrays the British second world war resistance agent Noor Inayat Khan. Talking about the film, she said, “It’s called Spy Princess. It’s a wonderful story, but we wanted to do it justice. You get one chance to tell a story, so you have got to tell it really, really well."

She further said, "She was a very different warrior, and her story redefines what it is to be heroic. We think of heroes as Marvel characters, but this woman did not fight on the frontline like Wonder Woman, yet she contributed massively to the end of the war. So we are excited to tell her story.”

In the same interview, Pinto also spoke about never being approached to play a Bond girl in the 2015 film Spectre. “The whole Bond thing was a rumour. I was not even approached. I was so young, so I am glad I never played a Bond girl. There is a certain idea of what a Bond girl has to do, and I just don’t think I would be able to do that. It was flattering to hear the rumours, but in no way did it shatter my confidence,” she said.