Dev Patel gets flak for taking up Indian roles
Dev Patel has revealed he is tired of being criticised for "stealing" roles from "real" Indian actors.
![Dev Patel](https://static.dynamitenews.com/images/2019/03/26/dev-patel-gets-flak-for-taking-up-indian-roles/5c9a083ab3d63.jpeg)
New York: British-Indian actor Dev Patel has revealed he is tired of being criticised for "stealing" roles from "real" Indian actors.
The 28-year-old actor, who was born in London to parents from Gujarat, India, said he is trying to understand himself better by connecting to his heritage.
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"I get flak sometimes because people will say, 'Why aren't they giving these roles to a real Indian?' I wonder, What does that even mean? The only way I can converse with my grandparents is in Gujarati. Does that make me real enough? Or am I only allowed to witness the moments of prejudice and racism going through airports? Is that the only bit that I'm allowed of the culture?
![](http://www.dynamitenews.com/images/2019/03/26/dev-patel-gets-flak-for-taking-up-indian-roles/3eb698c.jpg)
"The truth is I'm trying to understand myself better and my heritage, to figure things out, in the movie choices I make. That's been the greatest thing for me in going to India repeatedly," Patel told San Francisco Chronicle.
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The "Lion" star previously confessed he "reconnected" with his Indian roots when he starred in the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire". In 2016, he later said that he could never really fit in as the locals "could smell the foreigner on me". (PTI)