One would assume that having an actor as a wife, cricketer Harbhajan Singh would have received tips to help with his first tryst with the big screen. But Geeta Basra tells us she didn’t give her husband any advice before he began shooting for his debut movie, Friendship. In fact, she was “shocked” after watching a few promos of the project.

“He didn’t need any inputs. He’s a natural. I was surprised by how easy he was onscreen. When I saw the look and promos, I told him he was born for the camera,” Basra shares.

The Tamil film will have Singh dancing and mouthing dialogues in a language unfamiliar to him. And like his performance on the field, Basra feels that he shines on screen as well. “Facing the camera isn’t easy. Sure, cricketers do ad shoots, but that’s different [from acting in a movie]. And films down south are different from Hindi films, even in terms of shooting. Dancing is a whole new ball game too,” she adds.

Looking forward to the film, The Train (2007) actor says, “Even when he hosts on TV, he is good with one-liners. I know he’ll be amazing but to see one of the best spinners of India acting in a film would be weird (laughs).”

However, she’s quick to add that Singh doesn’t plan on turning the stint into a full-time career. “He doesn’t want to make a career out of acting. It’s just an opportunity that came to him and he thought of giving it a go. I always say that one needs to try out every opportunity,” Basra concludes.

Harbhajan Singh might be juggling multiple roles—one of an off-spinner slaying it at the ongoing IPL season in Dubai with the Kolkata Knight Riders, another of a doting father to his newborn, but today, he is most excited about the release of his first acting venture—the Tamil film called Friendship directed by John Paul Raj and Sham Surya. Why did Singh, a proud Punjabi, choose a Tamil film as his first?

He laughs when we ask him this over a call. “I was offered a Punjabi film before this, but I didn’t have the time to pursue a movie while playing cricket,” says Singh, who is enjoying the surge of love from his fan base since playing with the Chennai Super Kings until 2020. “Initially, I declined the film. Tamil is a tough language to master, but they were persistent. I heard the script and took four months to get back to them.”

Singh accepts that his knowledge of Tamil is restricted to pleasantries, but he ensured he mastered the dialogues. “I didn’t dub the film because I had to come to Abu Dhabi for the IPL. Someone else dubbed for me,” explained the cricketer, who says that he was sold on the movie for its strong message of women empowerment. Apparently, the language was the least of his worries. He says emoting is hard. 

“When someone dies in a scene, you have to live that. Scenes like that were unnerving and demanding. Much like cricket, it is something that you get better at with practice.” Having embarked on this journey, he is still unsure where it will take his career.

Given his calibre as a sportsman, biopic offers often flood in, but the cricketer is focused on writing his memoir. “Harbhajan Singh is much more than the cricket he played on the field. My story is about where I come from and the difficulties I have powered through in the cricketing universe,” he says, adding  that he doesn’t plan on playing safe. “I want to tell everyone what happened to me along the way. I have had many supporters and roadblocks. I know my story is more than just scoreboards.” Hoping that his journey “inspires people to follow their passion”, Singh confirms that the book will hit the stands by January 2022.