Freida Pinto talks about exploring opportunities outside Hollywood

Actor Freida Pinto who rose to fame with her role in Danny Boyles Slumdog Millionaire talked about her future projects and said that she doesnt want to confine herself to Hollywood reported VarietyIve always looked at cinema globally she told Variety After Slumdog I could have easily played all the Indian roles the girlfriends and sidekicks or just gone and done something only in IndiaTalking about playing challenging roles like playing a Palestinian girl in Miral which is a biographical political film directed by Julian Schnabel I know its not okay these days because the world has opened up and theres so much talent Pinto said But and I dont mean this in a pompous way with a film like Miral where Im playing a Palestinian girl and its such a controversial subject matter they needed someone then who could put butts on seats I now see thats why they chose me but at the time I thought I can see myself as x y and z and I feel that in me too The way I think now is not the way I thought back then at all But those films opened doors and made people more aware of a whole region which has so much talent and so many stories that are not being told frequently enough I wouldnt do it now but Im very proud of what I did thenAs the actor attended Saudi Arabias Red Sea Film Festival she shared how it feels to be in Saudi Arabia where Bollywood stars are greeted with such adulation according to VarietyBollywood is all over the region The Middle East and Northern Africa I believe its also huge in Japan When I was filming in Israel and Palestine I remember going into the old city of Jerusalem and they were selling DVDs of old Bollywood movies and they would say Hind which means Indian in Arabic They would ask me even though I was in character if I knew all the old Bollywood actors which I said noI think what works is the escapism which is something Bollywood cinema does best I love what we do in the Western world as well but theres something magical about Bollywood and its always about family love and culture and its immediately relatable for the Middle East Coming together respect for your elders all of that is represented in Indian Cinema and although Saudi Arabia and India are different countries theres no disconnect when it comes to that The Western world and their beliefs are more nuclear than the extended family she addedSharing about her plans she said The opportunities are changing now Were celebrating Minari and Parasite at the Oscars Youre in a bubble if you think Hollywood is the only thing Theres Asian cinema that isnt tapped into or explored and theyre all doing well in their own countries as well as elsewhere I dont want to be just doing Hollywood and working with the filmmakers who we hear about over and over again Thats why I would love to work with Nadine Labaki I loved her first film Caramel and Ive been hoping an opportunity would come and now with my own production company I can create that opportunity for myself if I wanted to2024 looks to be a big year with a slew of projects potentially coming to fruition including roles in Season 2 of Apple TV show Surface and a film adaptation of Onjali Q Raufs The Boy at the Back of the Class As a producer she has four projects near the finishing line including a Deepa Mehta filmIts all coming together she said reported VarietyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever