Ali Fazal, Freida Pinto to headline panel at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

With good roles in big Hollywood films, actress Freida Pinto and actor Ali Fazal have transitioned from India to Los Angeles. The two are set to headline a panel discussion at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne on 11 August.

The hour-long panel will be moderated by film critic Rajeev Masand and will also feature filmmaker Namrata Singh Gujral and producer Tabrez Noorani whose directorial debut, Love Sonia (2018), will open the festival. The panel discussion is titled 'East meets West'.

Pinto and Fazal will talk about their own journeys of making it in Hollywood and finding roles that are not stereotypical. Meanwhile, Gujral and Noorani will also discuss co-production between Hollywood and India.

Pinto's first film was the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008), directed by Danny Boyle. She has since worked with directors like Woody Allen on You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (2010) and Michael Winterbottom on Trishna (2011).

Pinto is also part of Noorani's ensemble film, Love Sonia, along with Mrunal Thakur, Demi Moore, Manoj Bajpayee, and Richa Chadda. The actress is flying to Melbourne from Los Angeles to attend the film's Australian premiere.

Fazal's first international project was a small role in the multi-starrer Furious 7 (2015) with Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. He later starred opposite Judi Dench in Victoria & Abdul (2017). His upcoming Hindi films included Milan Talkies (2019) and Prassthanam (2019).

The panel discussion will take place at Deakin Edge in Melbourne on 11 August. Students and film buffs will be in attendance. The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne is being held from 10 to 22 August 2018.