Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 22, 2016)
Cricketer S Sreesanth who flagged off his Bollywood debut, Pooja Bhatt's Cabaret, in October, is currently filming the last schedule in Mumbai. He plays mentor to Richa Chadha's lead character. "I am like a brother figure who guides her through difficult times. My character is called Chetta which means elder brother in Malayalam," he reveals.
He recalls how on the first day he was supposed to play chess with Gulshan Devaiah. When Pooja called 'Action', he was trembling and couldn't deliver his lines. "I've played cricket in front of thousands, but this was a completely different ball game," says the 33-yearold who spent two years prepping up, including a crash course in acting and learning mix martial arts. "I would also go on film sets and observe and speak to actor friends. Despite this there were still times when I couldn't get a shot right. My director, Kaustav Narayan Niyogi, and Pooja and Mahesh Bhatt helped me understand and deliver."
The schedule ends on March 24 after which Sreesanth will move on to two new films down South. "I play a bike stuntman in a Malayalam film with lots of action scenes. The other is a Tamil-Telugu bilingual in which I will be seen as an aspiring cricketer who falls in love with a superstar actress," he reveals.
He admits cricket is his first love still and when not shooting, he is working on improving his batting skills. "I am waiting for the day when BCCI will lift the ban on me. I'm just 33 and have a few more years to play international cricket. Playing for the 2019 World cup is a dream," he signs off.