Pinto rises up in new Planet of the Apes

In her upcoming film, Pinto plays an expert in primate behaviour opposite James Franco.


Reuters August 07, 2011
Pinto rises up in new Planet of the Apes

LOS ANGELES:


Indian actor Freida Pinto got her big break in director Danny Boyle’s 2008 Oscar-winning hit, Slumdog Millionaire. Now, she is hitting the silver screens in her first big-budget, effects-driven Hollywood film titled Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In her upcoming film, Pinto plays an expert in primate behaviour opposite James Franco and a bunch of genetically enhanced apes who prepare to take over the world. The film is a prequel to the popular Planet of the Apes movies of the 1960’s and 70’s, and follows director Tim Burton’s take on the series.


It’s been over 40 years since the first Apes film with Charlton Heston came out. Where does this film fit into the story?

It’s a modern-day story, set in the present time. It’s about how a scientific experiment with a potentially life-saving, new drug goes terribly wrong and leads to an ape revolution. I think the fact that it deals with topics such as animal testing is very relevant and current. This version is very different from the 1960’s original.

This is quite a cautionary tale about human’s
tampering with nature, genetics and science. What did you learn from it?


It’s a film with a message. It made me realise how important it is to start thinking about very serious issues and not just be numb to them. It definitely made me wonder how far do you go in order to improve people’s lives and fight disease and at what cost?

How was it playing Phaedra in another big action film, Immortals?

I actually shot it before Apes although it’s not out until November this year. I’m the oracle priestess who can see and predict the future, although she doesn’t quite know how it’ll unfold. Although it’s set in ancient Greece, we shot it in Montreal, and it was an amazing experience. [Director] Tarsem Singh created a living set, with all these fantastic cliffs and shrines, so it wasn’t just all green screen.

You’re starring in all these big Hollywood epics. Will you ever act in a Bollywood film?

I’m trying to balance it all with smaller Indian films. I just did Trishna with director Michael Winterbottom. It is my second Indian film after Slumdog, so I feel I’ve done the Bollywood thing in a way.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2011.

COMMENTS (36)

raja | 13 years ago | Reply

Doctor Need a Doctor.

BruteForce | 13 years ago | Reply

@Dr. Saleem Siddiqi:

And, you call yourself a man of science? Are you even a real Doctor?

Even the World's richest power the United States has areas of very low poverty. How do you think the Economic recession of 2008 was caused? Because people could not afford to pay back their loans anymore.

I am not at all surprised that you reject these findings, done none other than the UN(mind you). To just to educate you let me quote the findings of another such report, but on Pakistan.

"the Task Force on Food Security based on the World Bank estimates of poverty head count ratio of 29.2 percent in 2004-05 estimated that poverty head count increased to 33.8 percent in 2007-08 and 36.1 percent in 2008-09 or about 62 million people in 2008-09 were below the poverty line."

http://finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters/13-Poverty09.pdf

Am I really surprised that you reject these findings? No, not really. You can bury your head deep inside the sand but India will not stop growing and bringing people out of poverty and Pakistan will ever be stuck in a vicious cycle and it will be because of people like you.

P.S. Note the words "increased to". As I pointed in my previous post, poverty in Pakistan is not only greater than India, it is also increasing. The slums of Mumbai will be replicated or are being replicated in Karachi, among all the bloodshed. Not only Karachi will be violent, but also very very poor.

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