MUMBAI: In her next acting assignment Richard Raymond’s Desert Dancer Freida Pinto has to play  not only a trained dancer, but a dancer who looks skilled enough to train one of the most accomplished modern dancers.

The film about the Iranian dancer Afshin Gaffarian, casts Freida as the on-screen Afshin (Reece Ritchie)’s mentor.

While Freida who is in Cannes to announce the film is not allowed to talk about it yet a source close to the actress says, “Freida is dancing like a  madwoman for Desert Dancer. She doesn’t really consider herself a very graceful dancer. For the Jai ho song in Slumdog Millionaire Freida had to practice almost non-stop for a week.”

For Desert Dancer Freida has been training extensively in belly dancing and other contemporary forms of dancing.

“She doesn’t just have to be good. She has to be better than the dancer-hero of the film.”