We spotted Dev Patel in London, looking very smiley, and very smart. Not many celebrities rock a tie like that for promotional work- the red carpet maybe, but not for radio interviews, which is what we believe he had been doing. He had a brief but friendly chat with our pap: “Alright Dev? Yeah I’m good, man. You good? You excited about the movie? I am! Good look with it mate. Take care.” So the film he is referring to is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – it’s his latest film and is a comedy. He plays a hotel owner and stars alongside big names like Dame Judi Dench, Billy Nighy, Penelope Wilton and Maggie Smith. There is also a scene in the film where Dev’s character has to make a speech in front of those big acting names. Dev has admitted that he found this a bit intimidating sometimes. He said: “It was terrifying. That day in particular was the big speech day – the whole cast and crew were there to watch me deliver this big speech about how beautiful this hotel is and how it’s going to be. I remember looking around on the first take and I forgot to say my lines because I saw Judi and Bill and Maggie and Penelope and they were just waiting for the words to come out of my mouth. They are all just so encouraging, it was a really good experience.” Dev shot to fame starring in Slumdog Millionaire and it is how he met his girlfriend, Freida Pinto, who also had a big part in the film. It was set in India, just like Dev’s latest movie. This was another reason why he said yes to making The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. He said: “Apart from the cast it was one of the big reasons why I wanted to do it. I was just looking for an excuse to go back there and film - it really ignited an intrigue about the country, that movie, because I had never been there before that.”
