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Bryan Durham (DNA; September 20, 2015)

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Freida Pinto has appeared on television several times, but it has always been on talk shows or documentaries. With the very popular The Mindy Project, however, that has changed. She has gone ahead and made her acting debut in a comedy series headlined by an actor of Indian origin herself: Mindy Kaling.

Freida will be seen in the premiere episode of the fourth season of TMP. But don’t expect her to be a series regular. She appears in Mindy’s dream as her ‘doppelganger’ (don’t bother, it’s an inside joke), who is seen dining with Mindy’s boyfriend Danny Castellano (played by Chris Messina).

In all certainty, this might well have been a one-off, given that Freida has a full slate of releases and upcoming films this year. Moreover, the actress has maintained in several interviews that while she is keen on pursuing a television career sometime soon, it won’t be this year. But as they say, never say never. It might just happen.

So, why debut on a show that revolves around an Indian, in an episode that offers more screen time to her parents and prospective suitor, played by Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory’s Raj Koothrappali), in a dream sequence, no less? And on a show that’s only available online right now (earlier seasons are being aired in India, but there’s no final word on this season).

The answer might be a relatively simple one. Says a source, “Freida has had an interesting (if not entirely successful) film career and has been extremely careful about the roles she picks on the big screen. She seemingly knows what she wants and at this time, going by her statements to the press, is far keener on a film career. Television takes up far more time, comes with far more pressure and requires far more commitment from an actor, leaving her time for little else.”

In any case, something is better than nothing, right?