Here are some photos of Dev Patel at Tuesday night’s NYC premiere of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. That’s a nice velvet suit, isn’t it? It’s Ferragamo. I wish it was just a tad darker, more of a chocolate brown. But he looks really great with that beard and longer hair. Anyway, Dev is currently promoting Marigold and Chappie, the robot film with Hugh Jackman. So that means there are lots of interviews, although none as good as his recent Guardian piece, in which he called out Mario Testino as a big jerk. Here are some assorted quotes from various interviews with Dev:

Whether he’s a technology nerd: “I am pretty bad when it comes to technology. I refuse to have an iphone, I have an old touch screen phone. It’s a conscious choice because I like keeping things simple. Everyone is constantly on phone these days. It’s really a shame because you get disconnected from actually being face to face with humans. Even with my friends, I hate texting. I love talking. That’s the kind of person I am. I am not on social media, instant chat messenger either.”

What he loves about India: “Absolute optimism is what I adore. The nation is developing so fast. Triumph and determination of people here is so intimidating. I love it here, I never felt more alive. I find India to be a great source of inspiration… It’s part of my culture and heritage, which I’m proud of.”

Indians have a problem with his ‘Marigold’ accent: “India is so diverse, lots of people have qualms with my accent in Marigold. My argument is, it’s not based on a person but is a comedic creation. I play India’s acclaimed mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan next and that requires a different accent as it’s a different persona altogether. You try and discover.”

He hates dancing: “I absolutely hate dancing. I am very conscious about my gangly limbs, think it’s a great obstacle.”

When asked about Frieda Pinto: “Sorry, no personal questions.”

Whether he’s single: “Ha ha, am I single? I can’t answer that right now.”

Whether he’s typecast as nerdy Asian stereotype: “My character’s name in Chappie is Deon Wilson. So I don’t know how it is typecast. I came into it, so it became a guy of Indian origin, because of the colour of my skin.”

[From The Hindustan Times & Times of India]

It’s funny to me that Dev hates dancing because in all of the ads for the second Marigold movie, they show the clip of Dev dancing in a typical Bollywood-like scene. He doesn’t look half-bad! And yes, he’s very tall and “gangly” but I think he moves very well. Maybe he just needs a few more years to really “grow into his body.” As for being anti-technology… I feel him. Sort of.

Photos courtesy of WENN.