Freida Pinto New Movies 2015: Talks 'Desert Dancer,' Responsible Roles and 'India's Daughter'
Nearly seven years after her breakout role in "Slumdog Millionaire," Freida Pinto still doesn't see herself as a role model.
However, the 30-year-old Indian actress acknowledges the huge responsibility that goes with being in the public eye. She therefore, considers every film role she does as a potential facilitator for change.
"One of the reasons I do a film like 'Desert Dancer' is that I hope it starts a global conversation," Pinto said in a recent interview.
"Desert Dancer" is a film based on the life of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life by forming an underground dance company. He eventually had to seek political asylum in France.
Pinto found it difficult to believe people can be punished for making art, but she was not altogether surprised. She also said she couldn't believe that six kids could be arrested for making a video of Pharrell's "Happy." This actually happened in Iran last year.
In "Desert Dancer," which is being shown in more theaters since last week, Pinto plays a fellow dancer who uses heroin as a way to escape her oppression. Ghaffarian has said in his memoirs that heroin use is unofficially promoted by the Iranian regime to keep students docile.
In the interview, Pinto shared some insights on the kinds of roles that are important to her, and her support for "India's Daughter," a banned documentary about the rape of Jyoti Singh.
On how she danced in the film and made it look natural, Pinto said it took a lot of training and hard work and bruises.
On the characters she plays who are always fighting various sorts of oppression, Pinto said she thinks protest is a part of everyone's life, adding that it could be political, social or economic. Even in the entertainment industry, the fact that women fight for equal pay is a sort of protest. Pinto said in order to move to the next level, you need to stand up against something.
On playing an Iranian, Pinto said people always expect her to play Indian. But she said she feels she is a woman who belongs to the world and if she can physically fit into a character regardless of race or skin color, she will play it.
Pinto also commented on the banning in India of "India's Daughter," a documentary that chronicles the brutal 2012 gang rape and murder of 23-year-old student Jyoti Singh, who was riding a Delhi bus home from the movies with a male friend.
Pinto, an associate producer and ambassador for the film, said the backlash actually benefitted the film. When it got banned, more people watched it. She said the film started a conversation that led to positive courses of action.
On one scene in the film showing the mob lynching of a suspected rapist, Pinto said it saddened her, because that was not what the film intended. There are other ways to go about what needs to be done, and these could be done without violence, she said.
