'Indian culture is family-oriented'

Brett Lee seems to be in love with India. So he takes every given opportunity to be in the country. He was in Bangalore recently to endorse a brand.

Metrolife spoke to Brett about the World Cup, his musical career and his other activities in India.

 When asked as to what is it about India that he truly likes, he says, “I think it is the culture here that I like the most. The Indian culture is very family-oriented. The family is very close here. It is the same for me back home in Australia, my mum and dad are the two most important people in my life along with my son now.”

About the one instance that he truly treasures in Bangalore, he says, “In 2004, Michael Clarke got his first hundred playing his first test match here. I have great memories of that match. I have played some wonderful matches here for Australia and I have been with my band here too. It has always been a lot of fun in the City.”

Will this be his last World Cup too?

He says, “I don't know what the future holds for me. I would like to focus on the task at hand. I have important matches to look forward to in the World Cup and they are my immediate priority.”

On his musical career he says, “Mick Vawdon and I started White Shoe Theory. We have been mates for over a decade now and I had told him that we will play music together and that has finally happened now.”

About his previous band Six and Out he says, “We had a lot of fun with Six and Out back in the early days. We had five guys in the band including my brother. It just got to a stage when I was playing a lot of cricket so getting five guys at the right time in the right place was difficult.”

After his retirement from cricket, does he plan to launch a musical career in India?
He says, “I have already launched my musical career. I am going to continue playing music along with cricket because it is good for me and I will definitely play a lot more music once I am done with cricket.”

Brett has sung a song with Asha Bhonsle and he is proud of it.

“The experience was great, it is something I can tell my grandkids. A lot of people said, what’s so great about singing with Asha Bhonsle and I said, ‘well she is a legend’. To think that I have sung with an absolute legend in the music industry makes me very proud,” he says.

Will he be seen a lot more in Bollywood? “The first project in Bollywood was more like dipping your toes and testing the waters and it wasn’t a huge part. But further down the track there will be a lot of things that will happen in Bollywood through music as well as some acting,” he informs.

 He also says that Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta are his favourite actors in Bollywood.
“Now I am playing for Shah Rukh’s team KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders), I am obviously playing cricket over here but I will also be asking for a few tips on acting from him,” he adds.