'Slumdog Millionaire's' Freida Pinto gazes beyond India

A black SUV sidles up to the curb on Pioneer Boulevard and out climbs Freida Pinto in Chanel shades and a royal blue Moschino dress, with her makeup artist, the makeup artist's assistant and her publicist in tow. It's quite an entourage for sleepy Artesia, home to Southern California's Little India, where mom-and-pop restaurants mingle with sari shops and the smell of curry floats out of open doors.

But what else would you expect from Pinto, 24, the Indian beauty whose first big-screen role as Latika in "Slumdog Millionaire" has turned her into an award season sweetheart? In the last few months, the film has won nearly every award possible, and Pinto has been flying from one red carpet to another -- Dubai, to L.A., New York to London.

One place she hadn't been yet was Little India.

When she walks into Standard Sweets & Snacks, a casual South Indian snack bar, people barely look up from their lunches. Pinto may look Hollywood slick, with every shiny hair in place and her lips in a constant state of glossy perfection, but at this moment in her career, she's still able to be almost inconspicuous. With a little prompting from the store manager, though, the recognition spreads. Camera phones come out along with small scraps of paper for autographs.

"When I watched the film in Toronto for the first time, I didn't know what I was getting into," she says, sitting down to a plate of roti and chutney. "The first time I saw my face on screen I felt really nervous and self-conscious."

She needn't have worried. Pinto has gone from fashion model and TV travel show host to Hollywood star overnight and is enjoying every minute of it. "That dreams come true is the biggest surprise ever," she says, revealing that she's been collecting Freida Pinto place cards from all the glittery parties she's attended. "Every moment you blink you miss something."

Back in India, Pinto was a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl, but now designers are lining up to dress her. She's worn Christian Lacroix haute couture, Zac Posen, Oscar de la Renta and Marchesa. Today, she's paired her short floaty designer dress with shiny black lace-up Payless pumps picked up in Toronto. "Maybe they'll offer you a shoe line," I suggest. "I think they should," Pinto responds.

Acting always a dream