Freida Pinto’s latest project Netflix’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle has brought together Hollywood and Bollywood.
The film features a Hollywood voice-over cast and Bollywood stars dubbing it in Hindi.
In her interview with PTI, she said, “People are more interested in knowing what’s happening in India with Sacred Games or what other stories can come from here that can translate to the rest of the world and not just America. Whereas before, Indian movies were just made for India, Indian TV series was just made for India and probably a little bit of Middle East and Morocco but not for the globe.”
“What is beautiful that I’m seeing now is that it’s not really so much about the bridge with artistes, it’s the bridge with stories. I think it’s the stories that are now connecting the two worlds,” added the Slumdog Millionaireactor.
Pinto was eager to work in the film owing to her childhood memories associated with Mowgli, and called up the film’s team for a role.
“I wanted to be a part of this film. It was not the other way round where I got the offer. I kind of called them to make the offer. It had to do with the childhood memory and how connected I felt to the story.”
Although by then most of the cast had been selected, Pinto was hopeful to find a spot in the film. “I said, ‘Okay, there aren’t any more performance capture roles left but I will do anything to be in this movie. I’ll do like a one-second role just because I wanted to honour my childhood memories but I had actually something even better than a one second role.”
The 34-year-old was offered to play Messua, the tribeswoman who adopts Mowgli after he re-joins the human world. “I kind of feel if I have to describe my character I’m one big giant hug for Mowgli in the movie. A hug that he’s never got from anybody, so I get to be that special person in his life who makes him feel like he’s loved and cared for and that he can heal.”
Talking about the essence of Kipling’s story, Pinto says that the story is all about self-discover and belonging.
