Freida Pinto has watched Indian storytelling change for nearly two decades. At the Delhi launch of the 2027 Pirelli Calendar, she said the most welcome shift is on screen: Indian films and television now make room for women who are complex, imperfect and real.
The Slumdog Millionaire actor, who made her debut in the Oscar-winning British film in 2008, told PTI that viewers now see all kinds of women, not only duty-bound or puritanical figures but characters with their own contradictions. Her reasoning is direct: “The things that are perfect are boring and are not relatable.”
Pinto later built a global career with Hollywood titles such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Immortals and Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. That long view across industries makes her read of Indian screens worth noting.
India at the centre of a global calendar
The event itself marks a first. The 2027 Pirelli Calendar places India at the centre of the project for the first time in its history, and Pinto is one of nine prominent Indian women in the edition.
- Pinto appears alongside Aditi Rao Hydari, Anoushka Shankar, Rupi Kaur, Lakshmi Menon and Padma Lakshmi.
- Photographers Solve Sundsbo, Raghu Rai and Avani Rai shot the edition.
- The set holds 36 photographs—18 by Sundsbo and 18 from Raghu and Avani Rai’s project, shot between May and September.
Why the imperfect turn matters
For Hindi cinema fans, Pinto’s observation names a real shift in writing. The flawless heroine is no longer the only option; theatrical and streaming stories now explore women who fail, want, scheme and change. That gives actors more to play and audiences more to recognise.
Pinto said she hopes this creative energy becomes an “explosion of creativity” rather than being stunted or suppressed. Young people, she added, are coming forward with ideas and a desire for change—and that appetite should be allowed to grow.
She also praised photographer Solve Sundsbo’s working method. He did not arrive with a fixed idea of what India or women should look like, she said, and shot her in clothes and poses that felt comfortable.
What comes next
Pinto’s next screen project is Unaccustomed Earth, an eight-episode Netflix series inspired by Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2008 short-story collection. It also stars Siddharth and premieres on December 17.
Source: Hindustan Times