The Unlikely Stars of 'Slumdog Millionaire'

MUMBAI, India, Jan. 21, 2009 — -- Giggling into the phone, Indian actress Freida Pinto describes her brief encounter with Angelina Jolie during a recent trip to Los Angeles. Pinto says Jolie complimented her while she was eating and she was scared to speak.

"I didn't say anything because I didn't want to spit food out of my mouth," Pinto told a reporter in between back-to-back television interviews promoting her first film, "Slumdog Millionaire."

As Hollywood awaits the announcement of the Academy Awards nominees Thursday, bookies and Bollywood fans around the world are betting "Slumdog" will top the lists.

With its recent victories at the Golden Globes, "Slumdog" is now recognized as the international underdog success story of the awards season. Had Fox Searchlight not picked up the Danny Boyle-directed movie after its original backer shut down, the movie may have gone straight to DVD.

Of course that didn't happen to this rich and vibrant Bollywood-rooted fairytale about an orphan from the slums of Mumbai competing on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" And for many of those associated with it, the film's little-movie-that-could status is not surprising.

"It seems like it was all written up there for us," says Freida Pinto, who plays "Latika."

By "up there," the gorgeous former model with long black hair and a contagious smile means "in the stars." And listening to her as she widens her large dark eyes and talks about the experience, it's easy to believe there was some magic dust sprinkled over the set of the film.

Pinto had never acted before and had never even taken an acting class, yet was chosen from among Mumbai's famed beauties for the role. Throughout interviews she repeatedly gushes about how grateful she is that Boyle gave her a chance.

"It's a rags-to-riches story," she says.

Despite her lack of experience, the actress' background and understanding of the city and its young slum dwellers lends itself to the movie role.

The actress grew up in Mumbai's northern "suburbs" – neighborhoods more similar to the rest of the overcrowded and chaotic city than the green lawns and white picket fences associated with the term.