I will pray before bowling to '360-degree player' Virat Kohli: Brett Lee

Brett Lee is on an Indian tour as a part of the promotion of his debut film, UnIndian. In an exclusive chat with Indian Express, the former Australian speedster spoke about his love for India, his first onscreen kiss, comments about Virat Kohli and much more.

Speaking about the huge women fan base for him in India and about Sonakshi Sinha once called him ‘yummy’, he said, “It’s lovely. It’s always nice to hear flattering comments. It’s sometimes overwhelming and sometimes embarrassing too.”

He said that the culture, the people here, food, weather and everything else about India made the country so special for him. Talking more about the desire that came to fore after his retirement from international cricket, he said, “It was on cards when I was playing cricket.”

“I had finished cricket in terms of international cricket when Anupam Sharma(director) who I have known for long met me for coffee and asked if I wanted to be in his film as the lead actor. I spat my coffee out on hearing him. But gradually we discussed the options and I had to make the call. Ultimately I decided to give it a shot,” he added.

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He said that after acting in a film, his respect for actors had gone up steadily. “In acting, there is a lot of weighing around, lots of different angles and different takes that you have to make to get the scene right. In cricket, you go on the ground and it is like action and six hours later they say cut whereas in a film the camera is always rolling,” he said.

“You are doing different things and learning different techniques. The similarity between cricket and film lie in the fact that in both you work in partnerships. So I and Tannishtha(Chatterjee) we were both working towards achieving a common goal and it was exciting,” he explained.

Nervousness while shooting his first onscreen kiss:

When asked about kissing Tannishtha in the movie, “The kissing scene because it is the emotional scene. It is getting you into an emotional state. It’s got to look real. The chemistry has got to be there. You have to get into the moment. We had an acting coach come down before we did that scene.”

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“It was intimate and there was a lot of nervousness running around which is good because in the movie when they become one there is that nervous energy when a person first kisses another person. So there was that nervous energy and we got through. Tannishtha was stirring me all the time. She kept saying 15 minutes to go for that big scene…five minutes to go. We finally got through and we are really happy with the outcome.”

He also said that he don’t want to see a biopic of him but he would want to watch the biopics from Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. Responding to a query of whether a cricketer’s life has enough material to make a biopic, he explained taking Sachin’s career as a case study.

“Look someone like Sachin Tendulkar who leads a very public life on the cricket field but off the field, he is a very private person. So anyone who hasn’t had that pleasure as I have had to become friends with Sachin over many many years would want to know what Sachin is like off the field.”

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Want to pray before bowling to Virat Kohli:

On a quick fire, when asked about where he would bowl to the star Indian batsman Virat Kohli, he said that he would pray first not to get hit for a six. “First I will pray. There will be a lot of praying going. Please don’t hit me for a six. Virat Kohli is so powerful. He is strong in all parts of the field. He is a 360-degree player. If in One day cricket you have to detain him or make him not score runs, I would probably bowl the wide line yorker. If he tries to hit me over cover, I will push it wide.”

Pay to Watch Sachin bat and Shane Warne bowl:

He selected Sachin Tendulkar as the batsman he would pay to watch and his former teammate Shane Warne as the bowler he would pay to watch, as he is one of the best leg-spinners the cricketing world had ever seen.

Speaking of whom do he want to play Brett Lee’s role, if a biopic is ever made on his life, “Probably me. At least I will know what I am doing.”