Introducing Nicholas Brown

His good looks are hardly villain-material yet filmmakers Rakesh Roshan and Anurag Basu saw something menacing in him. He may not be a familiar name yet but today, when his big Bollywood film Kites opens worldwide, Read More">and he surely will be a name to reckon with. We are indeed talking about Nicholas Brown who playsRead More

His good looks are hardly villain-material yet filmmakers Rakesh Roshan and Anurag Basu saw something menacing in him. He may not be a familiar name yet but today, when his big Bollywood film Kites opens worldwide, and he surely will be a name to reckon with. We are indeed talking about Nicholas Brown who plays the negative lead in this summer's biggest release Kites. In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Hungama's Nikhil Ramsubramaniam, Nicholas takes a trip down memory lane on how it all began for him, talks about his big moment when he bagged Kites and also gives an insight into his future projects. So over to you Nicholas…

Background

"I was born in Sydney, Australia. However, my parents are from India, my mom is from Kolkata and my dad is from Ooty. They met and got married in Australia. I have an Anglo-Indian lineage."

Beginning of my career

"I have been acting since I was a child. However, even before I started acting, I started singing. My music career as a singer helped me eventually get into acting. I went to a performing arts school where I did a lot of school plays and then I got a chance to go to NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts, Sydney) which is the same prestigious acting school that produced greats like Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchett and Baz Luhrman. I graduated from there in the year 2000 and since then I have been acting."

Work Profile “Back home in Sydney, Read More">I have been doing mostly T.V. shows and a lot of theatre. I was in a T.V. show called The Cooks which is a raunchy kind of comedy based on the lives of 6 young chefs. I’ve also been doing a lot in music with a funk band forRead More

Work Profile

"Back home in Sydney, I have been doing mostly T.V. shows and a lot of theatre. I was in a T.V. show called The Cooks which is a raunchy kind of comedy based on the lives of 6 young chefs. I've also been doing a lot in music with a funk band for almost 4 years and even released an album. So you can see I have had a varied experience."

Moving to the City of Dreams- Mumbai

"I moved to Mumbai in 2007. I wasn't sure but hoped that I would get some interesting work in Bollywood. The cross-over movie industry was beginning to boom and hence I thought it would be a good idea to be in Mumbai at that point of time."

Early impression of Bollywood

"Growing up I had a very Australian upbringing and unfortunately my parents didn't bring me up with an Indian context which I spent many years being angry about (laughs). I didn't really have much exposure to Indian culture or to Bollywood until I started acting professionally in the year 2000. That's when I started watching a lot of international films including some Hindi ones. Because I was primarily a singer, I had this pre-conceived notion that all Bollywood actors sing, its only later that I realised is that it's lip-sync (laughs). I remember watching some of Hrithik, Aamir and Shah Rukh's films. My first job in India was with Shilpa Shetty in a musical called Miss Bollywood.

Bagging a biggie like Kites “Well… while I was in Mumbai trying to get a break, Rakesh Roshan happened to see a link of my show reel which is on the internet. He watched it and showed Anurag Basu, Read More">the director. They were basically looking for an International-Indian actor to play this role. They wantedRead More

Bagging a biggie like Kites

"Well… while I was in Mumbai trying to get a break, Rakesh Roshan happened to see a link of my show reel which is on the internet. He watched it and showed Anurag Basu, the director. They were basically looking for an International-Indian actor to play this role. They wanted someone new and different rather than the usual faces and called me for a meeting."

The First Meeting with Rakesh and Anurag

"Rakesh was pretty confident the moment he saw me and said, "Yes…you are my man!". Anurag was a bit unsure and wanted me to go through an audition. So they gave me a Spanish film of Barbara Mori to watch. They asked me, "You do speak Spanish right?" I just nodded even though I could barely manage a few words. There was a big monologue which I had to learn and come back in two days time. Luckily one of my flat-mates was doing Spanish classes and he helped me out. So I went back and delivered the lines in Spanish and the next thing I knew it is that I was on."

My character in Kites

"The character I play is that of Tony. He comes from the Grover family and runs one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. Because of that he is filthy rich and has strong connections with the entire underworld. Kangna plays my sister while Mr. Kabir Bedi plays the role of my father in the film. I hate to categorise characters per se but if you have to look at it in that sense, then he is the negative lead. What Anurag really wanted when he cast me was not your typical villain, he wanted something different."

Working with Hrithik and Barbara “Working with Hrithik was like a dream come true for me. He is so well-respected and has such a strong record that it’s really helpful to watch him work and learn from him. Barbara too is incredible to work with, Read More">she is simply stunning. We were three different people fromRead More

Working with Hrithik and Barbara

"Working with Hrithik was like a dream come true for me. He is so well-respected and has such a strong record that it's really helpful to watch him work and learn from him. Barbara too is incredible to work with, she is simply stunning. We were three different people from three different countries working towards one common goal and it was a great experience."

Working with Anurag Basu

"Anurag is such a character. He is very unique, very passionate, very funny and very chilled-out. He makes everyone feel really comfortable on the sets particularly during stressful times. He is also very good with newcomers. He discovered Kangna in Gangster and has really helped me a lot too during the making of this film. I'd love to work with him again."

Doing the deadly Action Sequences

"This is the first time ever that I got a chance to do action scenes in a film. I've done a lot of action on stage but that is totally different. I was a bit nervous while filming the action sequences. One of my first shots in the film was having to shoot holding a gun and believe me…I had never ever held a gun in my life. The AD, action director and the rest of the crew were really cool and just gave me the gun before the shot. I was kinda taken aback and told them to go slow and hold on as this was the first time I was ever holding a gun. In the end it was really exciting and a lot of fun."

Future Projects

"I am doing a film called Mumbai Direct which is a cross-over film. It's a romantic film in Hinglish produced by Sooni Taraporewala (who made Little Zizou). We are still in the process of finding a director. There is another film called Quick Slip Me A Bride which is a British agent film. That's another cross over film shot in the U.K. There's another one called The Test where I have an important role. Besides this I have also written a film which is an Australian - Indian crossover film. It's currently in the pre-production stage."