Having shared the screen space recently with accomplished actors like Amitabh Bachchan (Goodbye) and Dhanush (Tamil film Naane Varuven), Elli AvrRam’s decade-long stay in India seems to finally be paying off. “Things work when you are about to give up,” says the Swedish-Greek actress, who frequently breaks into fluent Hindi mid-conversation.

In a candid chat, Elli talks about how Aishwarya Rai Bachchan-starrer Devdas was a turning point in her life, the need for Bollywood to be more diverse and inclusive and her journey so far. Excerpts:

Right from my childhood, I have felt a deep connect with India. I was hooked to documentaries about India, and I was a fan of shows like The Kumars At No. 42. Everything about the culture and people fascinated me. The colours, laughter and noise… you don’t see that abroad. Bollywood only made that connect stronger. My grandmother would watch Hindi movies in Greece, and she was a huge fan of Nargis ji. Now, select Hindi films are shown in Swedish cinemas, but that wasn’t the case before. Not many Bollywood DVDs were available in Sweden when I was growing up, so I ended up watching a few big films, like Devdas, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Namastey London and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, over and over again. I was blown away by Shah Rukh Kham’s Devdas and that film was the reason I wanted to come to India and pursue a career in Hindi movies. I wanted to play Paro. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan became my idol. I even had her posters in my room.

The Bollywood movies I saw made me feel that everyone lives in these big bungalows here. I never thought Mumbai could be full of buildings. The people I was staying with in India said, ‘Amitabh Bachchan ka bungalow hai Mumbai mein and a few more people have bungalows, but a majority of Mumbaikars stay in buildings.’ That is something I had not anticipated.

White girls have been stereotyped in Bollywood. You either got to play characters who speak with an American or British accent, an NRI or these exotic dance numbers. I am happy that it is changing. Now, you are cast if you suit the character or speak the language. Your background or nationality isn’t the criteria anymore. After my recent film Naane Varuven with Dhanush, many people called to say, ‘You look so Indian, Elli!’ when I came to India, the rickshawalas always asked me whether I was from Punjab or Kashmir. They could never guess that I was a foreigner. Strangely, when I would go for the auditions and say that I am Elli AvrRam from Sweden, their outlook towards me would change because of my name. Sometimes, I would introduce myself as Elli Sharma just to understand their perception and people would say, ‘Half Indian toh lagti hai.’ This was just to test them. If I had an Indian name, more opportunities would’ve come my way. Thankfully, performance-oriented roles are getting prominence and casting is getting more inclusive now. As an actor, you are a character; your real identity is secondary. The Indian audience has accepted me since Bigg Boss. I want the film industry to do that, too. I think filmmakers are seeing me as a versatile actress now.