Freida Pinto is featured with a brand new picture and interview in the Times of India. She looks gorgeous in the photo and the article is very interesting and lets us know what’s been going on in Freida’s life the past months. Be sure to read it below. Enjoy!

The news is out. Freida Pinto, who somebody said went from obscurity to worldwide superstardom in the blink of a well-curled eyelash with Slumdog Millionaire, has bagged the biggest and perhaps best role of her young career as an actress.

It is in Tarsem Singh’s $100 million Greek mythological epic War of The Gods which will release in the summer of 2011. An excited Hollywood press is supposed to have cranked up the buzz blaster and Tarsem himself described his film “as a larger-than-life adventure with the look and feel of an Italianrenaissance painting — a setting well-suited to Freida’s timeless beauty”.

The actress, who plays Phaedra — the hero’s oracle in War of The Gods, was in Mumbai when the story broke. I met her for tea one evening at a city hotel poolside where she was shooting a campaign for a UK human rights organisation. She walked upto me with her hair blowing madly in the breeze, long legs flashing in snug designer jeans, golden-beige thongs peeping carelessly over the waistband through a tomato-red top. I thought she looked what she was, a sweet and young Catholic girl from Malad in whom Danny Boyle saw some spark and cast in Slumdog, changing Freida’s life forever.

Read the complete article

Freida Pinto of the Slumdog Millionaire fame has etched a name in the global forum. Her underprivileged girl act from the film has taken a new dimension in the real life as she would be now involved with a foundation that aims to provide free education to 1,00,000 girls across India by 2010. The foundation, named ‘Nanhi Kali’, is an initiative of Anand Mahindra the famous business tycoon, who aims to rope in the support of 101 most successful women in the world.

Freida seemed like an obvious choice, since with her mark and fan following in the west, she could easily manage to pull in many celebrities who would donate for the cause. Sheetal Mehta, President, Mahindra Foundation Trust said that their reason to choose Freida was due to her global appeal and her inspiring success story. She is independent, successful and an achiever in her own right”.

She is fast becoming a part of Hollywood with her two upcoming films with some of the most respected directors – You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger by Woody Allen and Miral by Oscar Nominated director Julian Schnabel. With that kind of success in a short span of time, it is only befitting that Freida stands alongside big names like Cherie Blair, Nita Ambani, Priyanka Chopra, Sania Mirza and many others in supporting this cause.

Source: Bollywood Hungama

A new interview, by IBNLive.in.com, has Freida talking about all the stuff we’ve been wondering about for the last couple of weeks. It’s a very interesting read, so I recommend all of you to head over to the press archive right away to check it out! Enjoy some tidbits from the interview below.

Rohit Khilnani: How was life before Slumdog? What was Freida Pinto up to?
Freida Pinto: Before I auditioned for Slumdog I was hosting a travel show. I traveled all over South East Asia and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That was another experience that really made me grow. I had to take charge and go out there and in fact do exactly what you are doing. So I don’t regret anything. The struggle has made me understand all this a lot more and made success even sweeter.

Rohit Khilnani: How did the Woody Allen film happen?
Freida Pinto: I auditioned for the film, somewhere around the month of February. My agent said that this is a Woody Allen project, why don’t you go and read for it. I did, and I got it.

Rohit Khilnani: So is it true that you are the next Bond film?
Freida Pinto: Should I continue the rumour? But yeah it is very flattering that, people think Freida Pinto is the next Bond girl, which is obviously not true. I really don’t know what the source of all of this is and would really one day like to write a book on it.

Rohit Khilnani: Right, so you have any free time and what do you do? You read? You listen to music?
Freida Pinto: I have no free time. The little free time I have I keep it for my family. You know I have projects, I have movies coming etc and I may not have time for my family.

Read the entire interview here!

I have added a new article from the Times of India where Freida Pinto talks about meeting with Woody Allen, being a “world citizen”, her newfound stardom and her next role. That’s right, in the coming days another new project for Freida will be announced! Stay tuned to Freida Pinto Fan for the details.

Read a sample of the interview – entitled ‘Woody Allen is Shy’ – below, then check it out in it’s full form in the press archive!

How did you bag the Woody Allen film?
I am represented by CAA, one of the most powerful agencies in Hollywood. It was through them that I got this role. I met Woody Allen a few days after the Oscars and that’s how it happened.

How has the interaction with Woody Allen been?
I would describe my meeting with Woody Allen as “different”. He’s a shy and reticent director but one with a beautiful vision. It will be a dream-come-true since I was a literature student and I studied Woody Allen’s plays back in college.

What’s the first thing you wish to do once you return to India?
Eat homemade Indian food. Westerners should know that curry isn’t our staple diet.

I am now to present the latest feature at Freida Pinto Fan – The Press Archive! It’s a collection of most of the articles written about Freida so far, gathered from various sources. For now, the archive mainly consists of magazine interviews, but a few online articles can be found as well. I can promise you the Press Archive will grow on a weekly basis, or as more and more articles are unveiled. Check it out right away!

Canada holds a special place in the heart of Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto.

Her film debut was first hailed here in September at its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“This is only my second time in Canada and it feels special to me,” Pinto said minutes before being honoured by ANOKHI magazine at a recent gala.

Raised in Mumbai, where the multiple Oscar contender Slumdog Millionaire is set, the former model and Asian-Pacific travel TV show host shared her feelings about her sudden fame, the controversy sparked by the film’s depiction of Mumbai life, and her future.

Q: How has the success of Slumdog Millionaire changed your life?

A: Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that this would happen. It has all been a blur since I started work on the film. Things pass at lightning speed, so fast I can never prepare for what’s coming, and I can scarcely believe what does happen. Suddenly my name is known all over the world. Paparazzi recognize me and follow me. I have found myself in Hollywood with the bosses of big studios, taking meetings at Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures. And, of course, I’m racking up a lot of Air Miles points…

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When she walks into Standard Sweets & Snacks, a casual South Indian snack bar, people barely look up from their lunches. Pinto may look Hollywood slick, with every shiny hair in place and her lips in a constant state of glossy perfection, but at this moment in her career, she’s still able to be almost inconspicuous. With a little prompting from the store manager, though, the recognition spreads. Camera phones come out along with small scraps of paper for autographs.

“When I watched the film in Toronto for the first time, I didn’t know what I was getting into,” she says, sitting down to a plate of roti and chutney. “The first time I saw my face on screen I felt really nervous and self-conscious.”

She needn’t have worried. Pinto has gone from fashion model and TV travel show host to Hollywood star overnight and is enjoying every minute of it. “That dreams come true is the biggest surprise ever,” she says, revealing that she’s been collecting Freida Pinto place cards from all the glittery parties she’s attended. “Every moment you blink you miss something.”

Back in India, Pinto was a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl, but now designers are lining up to dress her. She’s worn Christian Lacroix haute couture, Zac Posen, Oscar de la Renta and Marchesa. Today, she’s paired her short floaty designer dress with shiny black lace-up Payless pumps picked up in Toronto. “Maybe they’ll offer you a shoe line,” I suggest. “I think they should,” Pinto responds.
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Yesterday, Freida returned to Toronto, Canada, for a press meeting. She was very happy to be back in the city, as audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival were among the first to praise Slumdog Millionaire. I have added a few photos taken between the interviews and an article from the event can be read below.

“I’m very excited to be here,” the Mumbai-raised model-turned-actress, who made her film debut as the love interest in the drama that’s been nominated for 10 Oscars, said at a gala for the South Asian lifestyles magazine Anokhi.

“In a strange way it’s like my little gift back to the city because this is where it all started. This is where we had a first fan following, where we had the first standing ovation given to us by the press,” said Pinto, 24, referring to the People’s Choice Award the film won at the Toronto festival last September.

“I think in a strange way if this city hadn’t started it all for us, it could have been a bit more difficult.”
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Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto has found two Oscar winning superstars to mentor her through her first Academy Awards experience – Kate Winslet and Angelina Jolie. Both stars have offered the Indian actress words of advice and wisdom on the red carpets of a series of glitzy prizegivings – and Pinto feels sure she can go to the Hollywood leading ladies if she has any questions or concerns.

She says, “Angelina was really wonderful to talk to and very supportive of newcomers… She’s just like, ‘Embrace it. Enjoy it and keep it real. Don’t get affected by all this. Enjoy every moment.’

“And every time I have a question, Kate Winslet is always there to answer it. I found this new-found support in her.”

Freida Pinto, female lead in the much acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire, is enjoying every minute of her new found stardom. “It’s been a great homecoming,” she says with a tired but contented smile. The Indian premiere last night has kept the jet-lagged actress on her toes ever since she came back from the Golden Globes.

“I need to treasure these moments for the rest of my life. For someone who’s never acted before, this break was a blessing. Working for Danny Boyle was like attending the best acting school. When we started working, he told me, ‘Life isn’t always the same. Brace yourself for the world!’ The attention does get overwhelming at times and I’m still getting used to it. I’m a shy, reserved girl. Even when today someone compliments me, I get very embarrassed,” she says with laugh.

The last week has been almost surreal for the ex-Xavierite. “Suddenly everyone needs my opinion and wants to know everything about me! Just yesterday a man stopped me to ask if he could take a picture with me. The adulation has been very unexpected. At the Golden Globes, I felt like Alice in Wonderland on the red carpet. Being among all those stars was a very humbling experience and was even more special because I’ve struggled to get where I am,” says the dusky beauty.

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