Why the Sizzling Global Actress Freida Pinto Thinks Everyone Must Visit Kashmir

Freida Selina Pinto is an Indian

model and actress, who was born on 18 October 1984. She was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and hailed from a Mangalorean Catholic family. Since her earlier days she wanted to become and got her first break in the year 2008, in the British Indian Film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ who played the role of famous Latika. Her performance was very much appreciated all over and for this she bagged numerous awards among them some are “Breakthrough Performance Award”, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and had been as well nominated for numerous renowned awards. Since then Freida she has starred in a number of Indian – American and British – Indian Productions. You will meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Immortals, Trishna, Rise of the Planet of the Apes are some of her wonderful films. 



The hot and sizzling actress Freida Pinto zooms across the enchanting Dal Lake, in Srinagar, India for one of the magazine’s cover of the months. More than hundred boats dotted the serene water here, which included motorboats and the well organized shikaras, with the single oarsmen transporting passengers from one part of the lake to another. Well to rent one (Oarsmen included) you got to ask the manager of your houseboat or your hotel caretaker to suggest such options. If you love to enjoy more adventure than you also can go for motorboats, water-ski and wakeboard.

This story on Freida Pinto, featured on this month’s cover, follows the Indian star on a charitable mission through Ethiopia. But when the location was to be finalized for the cover shoot, the actress Freida Selina Pinto the Mumbai native insisted on her Mother Land that is India. “The aboriginal plan of the photographer was to meet in Africa” as Freida says. “But she made it clear to her photographers that if this was to be the cover photo of Condé Nast Traveler, then I want to show incredible India off to the entire world”.    

The actress chose the city of Srinagar, the northwestern Indian region of Kashmir to be photographed. She as well added that though this state has been driven for numerous years by violent territorial between the local military, Pakistan and India. Though the situation has become stable, the Britain last year hauls up its long standing warning against travel to and between the cities of Jammu and Srinagar. Knowing the fact that Kashmir and Srinagar has regained its lost glory of Paradise United States State Department still recommends its citizens to avoid travelling in the region.

Freida Pinto also added that her uncle was in the army and was posted to Kashmir, so she had grown up seeing the wonderful photographs of the physical beauty that environs Kashmir. She also describes the mountainous lake filled landscape. The cool alpine like scenery of the region made it summer retreat for the members of the British Raj. Today its popularity is on the peak and so the middle –class Indian families and other enthusiasts escape to here to beat the oppressive heat of numerous plains in India.

The actress also added that she also wanted to show that there is much more in Kashmir than what is always reported in the paper or shown in the television. It is also very disappointing to think that numerous people when begin researching ‘Kashmir the Crowning Glory of Indian Tourism’ they close up when reading about conflict and the threat of risk in the past and maybe think that’s all there is, without ever learning what it’s like today and what amazing tourism it offers.

The photo shooting took place over two days on the shimmering Dal Lake, which is also the second largest lake in the region and is lovingly identified as ‘Jewel in the Crown of Kashmir’. Jonas Fredwall Karlsson the photographer made use of both the serene lake and the famed houseboats and the petty rowboat – like Shikaras which has endowed the water.

Karlsson explains that on the day of the shoot we had nine boats, in the Shikara, Freida and I was in narrow and unstable as Freida was standing. So we had to use rope to connect extra boats to the prime one to stable it and to stop from undue rocking. A houseboat contained all the attire Pinto needed for each look, while the stylist, Mohan Neelakantan, was perched on yet another Shikara nearby. We couldn’t adapt anything or even lean into the other boat, fearing that Freida would lose her balance and fall over, says Neelakantan. So we had to yell instructions to her. The dressing for the entire photo shoot was all done by the brave actress all alone.

And here it was all for the cover girl, standing in the middle of the charming Dal Lake on the swaying Shikaras, decked with jewelry and gowns. Pinto also admitted that the photographer always asked her to stand on the tip of the boat almost for every shot so he was able to have the panoramic background and make it look like something out of a fairy tale. Lastly the actress also said that she was bit afraid as from where she was standing she could only witness straight down about 14 feet to all the lotus roots at the bottom. She was very scared that she might fall and get trapped and tangled in them. Well the result of all this production was overwhelming portrait of the sizzling actress.

Last but not the least Freida also said that “I love my country, and there is so much to experience here. One lifetime is not enough to take it all in.”