‘Slumdog’ in Israel
Freida Pinto Image by GETTY IMAGES
In a twist on the old maxim “Write Yiddish, cast British,” an Oscar-nominated director is thinking Palestinian, casting Indian.
Freida Pinto Image by GETTY IMAGES
Freida Pinto, the female lead in “Slumdog Millionaire,” has arrived in Israel to film “Miral,” a drama in which the Mumbai native will play a Palestinian woman in the years after the Jewish state’s establishment. The role is Pinto’s first since her breakthrough in “Slumdog Millionaire,” which claimed eight awards at February’s Oscars and earned her a nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The actress is expected to stay in Israel for three months, Israeli entertainment magazine Pnai Plus reported, with filming set to begin after Passover.
Based on a book by Palestinian writer Rula Jebreal, “Miral” tells the real-life story of Hind Husseini, who founded an orphanage in Jerusalem after Israel’s War of Independence. The film is being adapted for the screen by Julian Schnabel, director of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and will also feature Hiam Abbass, an Arab-Israeli actress twice nominated for a European Film Award.
Pinto, 24, has signed on to star in Woody Allen’s next film, following the shoot for “Miral.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
