I’m still pretty much just a Mumbai girl: Freida Pinto

She’s back from what she terms one of the most fun things to have ever done, for sharing the stage with talk show host Jay Leno and actor Robin Willaims, says Bandra girl Freida Pinto, was ‘undeniably a fun experience’. “But I almost missed Christmas,” she laughs. Having landed in the city a few days ago, after her rounds of Dubai, Toronto, London and Los Angeles where Freida appeared on the talk show, she’s now waiting with bated breath for her film — Slumdog Millionaire’s release in India in January.

“It feels so good to be back,” she pauses to draw on a Virgin Pina Colada after her morning swim at a hotel, “I met Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz and Mickey Rourke. In Hollywood, you suddenly meet gazillion actors and you begin to feel like a drop in the ocean,” she states. “But it’s also nice to know that you get appreciated.”

There’s one thing that everyone she met asked her, says the 24-year-old with a giggle: “The West is so enamoured by yoga and people keep asking if everyone in India practices it. A few actors I met also asked me about ‘Indian curry’; and whether I could cook it.”

Her own preferences veer towards a good sarson da saag and her mother’s Christmas cooking. “I told Jay [Leno] that I’d drop everything to get back for our shepherd’s pie and roast chicken.”

Having a little more time on hand she might just learn to cook. That’s something she’s been yearning to do so since her days of studying literature at St Xavier’s College. “My friends who have been with me since then are thrilled for me. But the fact that I have come so far, the emotions… the success hasn’t sunk in yet. You know, I’ll never be the overnight star; I’m still the girl-next -door. When I read about myself or the film, I think this is someone else’s life. And I hope that doesn’t change me.”

But reel life has changed her real one. “Reacting with street children in the film drove home the fact that one takes life for granted here; playing someone else makes you do a re-think,” she says.

What also makes the trip into tinsel town worthwhile is knowing that her parents feel proud of her. “Well, dad’s a little wary too,” she explains. “I’m his little girl and I guess he’s always going to be apprehensive of where I go. Mum realised I would get into the field long ago when she and my sister would catch me red-handed in front of the mirror, wearing her make up and imitating family members and known actors.”

Those impromptu self-taught lessons have certainly given way to much more, she continues. See, there are things one learns only in front of the camera — like internalisation — when your eyes have to speak the scene. I didn’t realise that would be so crucial to the role.”

For now, Freida’s happy to have received a full Christmas stocking. “I gifted myself a Puma box with five pairs of shoes,” she smiles. “Since I’m a size 10, I find it hard to get my keds here.” There’s also a cooler New Year in store as she heads to Coorg with her family, something that she was yearning for through her film-frenzied, crowd-crazy recent globe trot.