From playing the girl-next-door Latika in her debut film, Slumdog Millionaire, Freida Pinto is set for a complete makeover in Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna. In the film, the actor plays the title role of a Rajasthani peasant girl. And to hit the right notes, Freida went all out to learn Marwari and Rajasthani Hindi.
“It was quite a challenge. I have been born and brought up in Mumbai, but the kind of Hindi we speak here is completely different from the way they speak in Rajasthan,” says Freida.
The Immortals actor feels that the language is purer and more proper in Rajasthan, than its bastardised version heard in metros. “I had to get rid of the Mumbaiya Hindi, which I was used to and learn a new way of speaking the language, which, I feel, is brilliant and helped me a lot,” says Freida, who hit upon a novel way to go about things.
“I would practise the language with my publicists and friends. And they would be like, ‘wow, where has this amazing Hindi word come from?’ So, that was my way of getting into it,” she laughs.
And if that wasn’t enough, learning Marwari was another challenge for the actor. “I have never spoken that language in my life. So, I had to learn a completely new dialect. What made learning two new languages more challenging was the fact that there was no solid script. We didn’t have lines. So, we just had to improvise,” says Freida, adding that she’s always up for something new. “If there are no challenges in my career, I get bored quite easily. So, I need to be challenged all the time,” she says.
And if that wasn’t enough, learning Marwari was another challenge for the actor. “I have never spoken that language in my life. So, I had to learn a completely new dialect. What made learning two new languages more challenging was the fact that there was no solid script. We didn’t have lines. So, we just had to improvise,” says Freida, adding that she’s always up for something new. “If there are no challenges in my career, I get bored quite easily. So, I need to be challenged all the time,” she says.
Trishna is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles. The film was shot in Jaipur and Mumbai and features Freida as Trishna, a village belle who is forced to support her family after her father meets with a road accident.