Freida Pinto's portrayal of an Arab princess Leyla in her latest release 'Black Gold' saw the director asking her to tone down the performance.

The movie's world premiere was held at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and her sexy attire raised a few eyebrows.

"There were times when the director would ask me to tone it down," the Independent quoted Pinto as saying.

Based on Hans Ruesch's sweeping historical novel 'The Great Thirst', set in 1930s Arabia at the dawn of the oil boom, the film focuses on a young Arab prince torn between allegiances to a conservative father and his modern, liberal father-in-law.

The film has an international cast and even features Antonio Banderas as a warring emir. The 'Slumdog Millionaire' actress asserts that her portrayal of the princess was of one trying to bridge the traditional and the modern.

"For me, it was very difficult because, as a 21st-century woman, I would want to turn around and say to Antonio's character, 'I will not divorce him. How dare you tell me what to do!' "But Leyla has been brought up differently, so she's slowly but surely trying to get there," she said.