Bibianna D’Costa steps out of the inner room wiping her hands dry.
The retired teacher, who lives in Macchur, 35 km from Mangalore, explains that she was finishing her chores which were left unattended to as she was busy watching her niece Freida Pinto’s debut film Slumdog Millionaire sweep eight Oscars.
All of Freida’s uncles and aunts in Machhur, living at ‘Pinto Villa’, the ancestral home of Pintos in Neerude, have been unable to stop raving about Freida’s achievement.
Her cousins have been busy since morning celebrating with the neighbours and sharing congratulatory notes with Frieda’s father, Fredrick Pinto, who lives in Mumbai.
“We are proud of her achievement,’’ says Freida’s mother, Sylvia Pinto, from Mumbai, when contacted over the phone by Expresso. Sylvia Pinto hails from Derebail near Mangalore. Bibianna says Freida’s father Fredrick was the seventh among eight siblings to her parents late Baptist Pinto and Cosess Pinto.
After his initial schooling in Neerude, Fredrick completed his degree in St Aloysius College, Mangalore and got a job in Bank of Baroda, Mumbai.
‘‘Fredrick used to visit Neerude with his daughters, Sharon and Freida, during vacations.
The picture of Freida playing with my children is still before my eyes,’’ she gushes.
Freida, like her elder sister Sharon, was independent and showed a lot of leadership qualities, she says.
Bibianna recollects that when Freida’s decision to begin a career as an actress came to family’s knowledge, she had advised Fredrick to encourage his daughter to continue aiming high in the films, but not to change her name. “The name has proved lucky,’’ she says with pride. All members of the Pinto family have watched Slumdog Millionaire.
‘‘It is not a routine masala film. It is interesting and can be seem more than once,’’ says Bibianna. She gets up to complete chores fast enough to catch rerun of the p r o - gramme.
