Taking flight

The word’s out in Bollywood that there’s a new Baddie in town.

So says the “new Baddie” himself, Nicholas Brown. Nicholas plays the negative role in the high-profile Hrithik Roshan starrer Kites, set to hit the screens early next year.

But take one look at him, and you’d be sure to think - no, this man can’t be in the same league as the Gulshan Grovers, Shakti Kapoors and Sadashiv Amrapurkars of tinsel townhe’s way too cute! His easy and comfortable gait, those twinkling eyes and that infectious smile, are too far removed from the typical Bollywood “villain” with the scowly face, uncouth exterior and lecherous eyes ...

And then again, he’s too down to earth to be a Bollywood type at all. Where are those starry airs, that treat-me-like-a-celebrity demeanour, that $2000 jacket and expensive cologne, that heavily blow-dried hair?

No, there’s none of that. Nicholas comes across as a regular guy… with lots of obvious passion for his line of work.

And plenty of enthusiasm for his first big break in the Hindi film industry, with one of its largest production houses.

Rakesh Roshan’s Kites, starring his superstar son Hrithik and the beautiful Kangana Ranaut, has been complete for months now and was supposed to be one of this year’s most awaited releases. Delayed many times for untold reasons, it will now open on 15 Jan 2010, to mark Hrithik’s tenth anniversary in the industry. (His debut film, the made-in-New Zealand Kaho Na Pyaar Hai was released on 14 Jan 2000).

The film, from all reports so far, is your typical Bollywood love story. The difference is that it is in Hindi, English and Spanish. And that the star-crossed lovers are not from different social classes, but from two different countries. The film was made in Mumbai, Las Vegas, LA and New Mexixo.

In it, Nick Brown plays Tony, the US-born son of an Indian father played by Kabir Bedi. His sister (Kangana, a salsa dancer) is in love with dance instructor Hrithik, who has eyes only for Mexican beauty Barbara Mori. The two main leads Hrithik and Barbara are passionately in love, but their love has many barriers - language being only the first of them. Are Kangana and her family the other thorns in this love story? Nick won’t tell us: it seems he has been asked to be “tight-lipped” about it all.

However we do manage to wrangle out of him, that he is the baddie who takes Hrithik’s girlfriend away from him.

So why did you pick the baddie role, Nick?

“Perhaps my commendable portrayal of the villain in Miss Bollywood had something to do with it,” Nicholas smiles.

The Shilpa Shetty musical Miss Bollywood was his first job in India. He had played the negative role in it, alongside Wayne Perry and another Indian Australian who has made it big in India, Anusha Dandekar. The musical played to packed houses in Mumbai and across Europe, and ended a huge success at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The role proved to be a stepping stone for Nick as he found acceptance in India’s entertainment industry. “The word was out on the streets about a new Bad Guy in town!”

Kites came flying his way shortly afterwards.

The film has been in the news for many reasons since it started production. Its delayed release has been rumoured to be due to the lack of an ‘auspicious’ day forthcoming (Rakesh Roshan is well-known for his superstitions, such as movie titles starting with the letter k). And now the buzz is that Roshan might actually release the film in December, so as not to clash with Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots, which releases on Jan 25. (Or then again, perhaps an auspicious date has suddenly appeared in December…)

The other reason the film has been in the news is because of the supposed intimacy between Hrithik and Barbara, that caused some marital issues at the Roshan household. Sources close to the film unit let the word out that some of the scenes between the lead pair were so sensuous that papa Rakesh was asked to leave the sets, and off location, it was obvious to all that Hrithik was very attentive to Barbara.

And so one is tempted to ask Nick what the real story there was.

But all one can get out of him is, “Hrithik is extremely charming… and professional and focused. I had a great time hanging out with him at Las Vegas after work”.

In the film, Nicholas actually speaks three languages – English with an American accent, Hindi and Spanish. With absolutely no exposure to Hindi or any other Indian languages in Sydney, Nick had to work very hard on the dialogues: he took classes in Mumbai to improve his diction and vocabulary.

“And yet there were remarks on set – ‘Arrey, you speak Hindi like a French man, yaar!’, they laughed at me. But Hrithik explained things to me whenever it was required. In any case, I had gotten familiar with Hindi as I’ve been living in Mumbai for two years now”.

So is Bollywood really as chaotic as it has been made out to be?

“Actually, it is, rather – it’s very different to working on an Australian set with an Australian crew. Having said that though, I don’t imply in any way that Bollywood is any less in comparison to the Australian industry. In fact I was quite taken by the sheer scale of production of Kites. For the very first scene I filmed, I was made to stand on a cliff with helicopters surrounding me – it was amazing”.

On a lighter note he narrated a funny incident that happened while filming his first stunt: he had been asked to drive a Hummer on the wrong side of the road and shoot a gun at the same time. Obviously this mild-mannered “villain” has had no experience whatsoever with guns and needed a quick lesson.

“One of the assistant directors came to my rescue saying ‘It’s easy, just press!’ We did have a bit of a laugh over that”.

Nicholas also claimed to have had a good working relationship with director Anurag Basu who gave him the freedom to work around his role. “Anurag is a very creative person who knows exactly who to cast. He auditioned me quite extensively…”.

Nicholas also believes that his upbringing, training and experience as an actor in Australia is different to other Indian actors and that has helped him to contribute something unique and different to the film as well.

What about the dancing in Bollywood films?

“I was a little disappointed about not being able to dance in this particular film. I had a great time dancing with Shilpa Shetty in Miss Bollywood. I am trained in various styles of dancing, but the Bollywood style was new to me. Ganesh Hegde the choreographer helped me out. There are a lot of differences between western dance and the Bollywood style: in the former, the movements need to be direct, whereas with Bollywood dancing the movements are meant to be free. So I was advised to chill out and loosen up, a bit like a monkey!”

He did get a lot of help from Shilpa as well. Apparently Shilpa was petrified about performing on stage as she had never done it before, and was glad to have experienced professional theatre artists by her side for Miss Bollywood

Though Kites is Nick’s first Bollywood film, it is not his first film as an actor. Nicholas Brown is an experienced actor who has done many independent films and has been an active theatre artist in Australia. He has won many accolades in the industry and was even nominated for the Logies for his performance as Sachin in the television series The Cooks in 2005. This made him one of the first ethnic actors to have a lead in a major series in Australia. (His parents are both from India; dad hails from Ooty and mum from Calcutta. He was very young when his family migrated to Australia).

Talking of his early years, Nick says, “I started performing and acting when I was a kid in school; I went to Newtown High School of Performing Arts. I auditioned for NIDA when I was 17, in fact on the day after my HSC and was lucky enough to be selected”.

NIDA is the foremost acting and theatre college in Australia which has produced stars such as Mel Gibson and Cate Blanchett. Over thousands apply and Nicholas was one of only 24 who got selected in his year.

He is also a talented singer, who writes his own songs and has recorded several songs with India’s finest jazz musician Louis Banks. He recently collaborated with Pia Sukanya and Michael E Ward for the soundtrack of an upcoming cross-over Indian film. In Australia, he was lead singer with Sydney based disco funk band Modernists. Their 2005 album Big Score garnered much attention and radio airtime in Australia.

Nicholas, whose voice has been compared to George Michael’s, began his singing career at the tender age of seven as a boy chorister with The Young Sydney Singers. He was a regular performer on national television on the Ray Martin Show and has performed with some of Australia’s leading vocalists such as Olivia Newton-John, Dame Joan Sutherland, Kamahl, Normie Rowe and John Rowles. Did he do anything with music for Kites?

“I would have loved to contribute to it and was initially considered by Anurag Basu to sing a few tracks. But there were too many people involved in the process already - Barbara Mori’s brother is likely to have contributed a bit towards the soundtrack as well. Hopefully I’ll do something in the music industry in India in the long run”.

He’ll sing readily for you if you ask him: Kajra re, Nach baliye and other peppy numbers is in the early stages of funding. The script touches upon the topic of racism in Australia –although it doesn’t point the blame at anyone.

It is an honest film and different. Australian producers are afraid to touch such subjects, and hence the delay in it getting off the ground”.

Nick is currently in Australia to focus on this project. Coincidentally, he won a role in an episode of City Homicide called Aussie Aussie

Nicholas feels very strongly about the Indian students’ situation here.

“Though it was completely sensationalized in India, it was quite disgusting and terrible that it had happened. The problem with racism in Australia is that when people are not directly affected by it then they don’t care.”

Being in the entertainment scene in Australia, Nicholas has been affected by it as well, however indirectly.

“It was tough even after graduating from NIDA. As a young actor, I had to struggle a lot and yes, it was difficult getting the breaks with a brown skin. One has to work harder to get behind the ‘coloured line’ casting. Majority of all roles, even in commercials, are for blonde and blue eyed people”, he says.

In the American scene there is much more diversity, he notes, quoting the example of the television series Grey’s Anatomy. “America is comparatively forward when it comes to this, and the Australian industry has a long way to go - it needs to be more open in terms of casting people of different ethnic backgrounds”.

It was essentially this that led him to move to Mumbai, looking for work.

Funnily enough, it was an Indian project, made in Australia with an all-Australian crew, that turned him towards India. He was picked to play a role in a Motorola ad for the Indian market but made here in Sydney, a few years ago. (Check it out on youtube – it is sure to bring a smile to your face). It turned out to be a sign to head to Mumbai!

With Kites, we wait with bated breath to see if Nick’s career takes wind and soars to success, but we can be sure of one thing: just like the dor (kite-string), this talented young man will continue to remain down-to-earth and tightly focused, and will reach heights denied to him here in Australia.

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