Preity Zinta is my favourite actress and I'm not saying that because she is the co-owner of Kings XI Punjab," said express bowler Brett Lee at the press conference of his debut film Victory in Jaipur.
Lee, along with Mike Hussey, Brad Hogg, Simon Katich, R P Singh, Praveen Kumar, Dinesh Karthick and Yousuf Pathan, played a competitive game under the luminous floodlights at the Sawai Maan Singh Stadium. While huge sixes were being lofted all over the park, director Ajit Pal canned one shot after another on his 35 MM camera, which was always at the risk of being smashed by one of Karthick's massive strikes.
Victory stars Harman Baweja in the role of a cricketer from a humble background rubbing shoulders with the best in the business. "For the first time you'll see real players playing in a film. Except for Harman, all other players are professional," said producer Manmohan Shetty.
Incidentally, this happens to be his first production post the winding-up at Adlabs. Shetty hasn't coined a name for his production house (set up along with daughter Pooja) yet and, as for the budget of Victory, this is what he had to say, "It's a big budget film but we still don't know the exact amount as it is yet to be complete."
Alright, let's bring you an 'ankhon dekha haal' of what really happened at this unusual location. There were no big delays, no starry tantrums from the film crew. Harman Baweja remained ensconced in the players' dressing room and Brett Lee was the hero of the day.
Lee was the cynosure of all eyes and like a star he mingled with his fans, burst fire crackers and patiently answered queries from fan-like journos keen on knowing if he would soon sport a six-pack or eight-pack. "I am a cricketer," he said. "Playing for Australia is my first love but there are so many other things that I like doing like fashion, music [he carried his guitar even to the stadium], watching movies and now being a part of it. When it releases in Australia there will be lots of laughs, lots of fun." So, why did he agree to do Victory where he plays himself? "It is a fantastic script and hats off to the people who've written it."
When quizzed about the recent altercations between Indian and Australian players, Lee diplomatically said, "The relations between Indian and Australian cricketers are brilliant. There have been a few bad instances, but these kind of things happen."
Actor Dalip Tahil, who plays the coach of the Indian cricket team, light-heartedly jumped in at this moment: "We are trying to get Brett busy with Bollywood assignments so that he doesn't find time for cricket."
Everyone wanted a piece of Lee. So Lee, would you sing for us? "Haan mein tumhara hoon aur tuhara hi rahoonga," he sang, mouthing lines from the Asha Bhonsle song. And what's the best Hindi film you've ever watched? "Any film starring Preity Zinta," he said with a chuckle. Talk about keeping your team leader in good humour.
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