'Slumdog Millionaire' star Freida Pinto admits that she is a little overwhelmed by the speed with which she went from being a Mumbai - based model aspiring to be an actress to becoming the kind of celebrity who is pursued by the paparazzi and features on the cover of GQ.

"There is always this fear that your moment is here and that it will never come again. Being in the right place at the right time – and being cast as Latika – is the story of my life as well as that of Slumdog Millionaire," he Daily Mail quoted her, as saying.

The younger of two daughters born into a privileged middle - class family, Pinto became a model after gaining a BA in English Literature from St Xavier's College in Mumbai.

Determined to move from modelling to acting, she experienced more than her fair share of rejection, auditioning for 'hundreds' of roles before Danny Boyle cast her as Latika.

The rest is history.

The fact that the love story in the 'Slumdog' was echoed in real life with a romance between Freida and British actor Dev Patel has added to their growing mutual celebrity.

Six years her junior, Patel's post - 'Slumdog' success might not have equalled that of his girlfriend, but the couple remain very much an item even if their working schedules make time together difficult.

"It's about respecting each other's work and respecting the relationship. We have to think, "OK, you are working there and I am working here but we are going to have to make time for each other." We have the same attitude to our work. When I am filming I can't be thinking about him, and when he is filming he can't be thinking about me,' said Pinto.