Freida Pinto praises Indian films and TV for showing women with ‘complexities,’ not just perfect ones |

Since her 2008 debut in the Oscar-winning British film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, Freida Pinto feels India has transformed in many wonderful ways. She notes that women are now portrayed with greater range, no longer confined to roles that are “just duty-bound or puritanical.” Pinto is one of nine distinguished Indian women appearing in the 2027 Pirelli Calendar, alongside actor Aditi Rao Hydari, musician Anoushka Shankar, poet Rupi Kaur, model Lakshmi Menon, and television host Padma Lakshmi.

Freida Pinto on embracing imperfection on screen

Pinto, who Sundsbo photographed in a dark pink dress beneath a bougainvillea heavy with flowers, spoke about how the portrayal of women on screen has evolved over nearly two decades. Speaking to PTI at the launch, she said: “It has changed in many beautiful ways and there are some changes that are very, very welcome, which is, as far as I’m concerned, is the representation of women in film and television. Being able to see all kinds, not just the duty-bound or the puritanical women, but also the ones with their complexities and not perfect. I’m more interested in the things that are not perfect. The things that are perfect are boring and are not relatable”.

Freida Pinto hopes for a creative explosion

Best known for Hollywood films such as ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, ‘Immortals’, and Woody Allen’s ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’, Pinto said she is hopeful about “an explosion of creativity” in India, where young people are “so forthcoming with ideas and the desire for change”. She added: “Ideas lead to a lot of creativity. And I hope we see a lot more of that. I hope it doesn’t get stunted. I hope it doesn’t get shunned or suppressed. I hope we just see it explode.”

Freida Pinto on working with Sundsbo

Reflecting on her experience with Sundsbo, Pinto said she was glad to be part of his vision and valued that he never imposed his own ideas on the shoot. “He never came with a preconceived notion of what India and what women should look like. He came in once we were done with our fittings and we had chosen the clothes that we feel comfortable in, he shot the way we felt comfortable in. So, there was no real put-us-in-a-box kind of a situation that ever happened. It was very fluid and flowy and always with conversations like, ‘does this feel good? How does this feel?’ So, in that sense, I feel like you’re leaving a mark of yourself in every photograph that has been captured,” the actor said.

Freida Pinto and the 2027 Pirelli Calendar

Photographed between May and September, the 2027 Pirelli Calendar comes as a box set with two separate pockets and features 36 photographs in all, 18 shot by Sundsbo and 18 from a project by Raghu and Avani Rai.

What’s next for Freida Pinto

On the work front, Pinto will next appear in ‘Unaccustomed Earth’, an eight-episode series based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2008 short-story collection. The show, which also stars Siddharth, will stream on Netflix from December 17.