Thanks to a tiny part in Slumdog Millionaire, Arfi Lamba bagged the lead in Helena Danielsson's The Pollutant. He talks about playing an environmental zombie for a Swedish production and, closer home, why he once thought that Bandra wasn't in Mumbai

How did you make the transition from having a small part in Slumdog Millionaire to playing leads (with Chandan Roy Sanyal in Prague and the protagonist in The Pollutant)?
Thanks to the small part in Slumdog Millionaire, I went to the Cannes film festival. A lot of opportunities opened up for me, despite my telling them repeatedly that I had a very small part. I am very happy to have landed Prague, which is a psychological thriller about three Indian architects who live in the city. The tagline encapsulates the theme beautifully -- 'Men live in cities, cities live in men too'! Prague has a mystical air, it is like a dark Paris.


Pic/ Darius

The Pollutant is being described as a film about environmental zombies.
Yes, it is a fascinating film. Helena (the Swedish producer of the acclaimed film Beyond), met me at the Goa Film Festival when I was pitching my friend Katharina Suckale's next project to investors and producers. She was in the crowd and publicly declared, "I am backing this project; and, Arfi, you are doing the lead role.' I thought she was joking. But she wasn't.