An India Australia cricket comedy

though the Indian cricket team fared miserably in Australia this season, Indian cities Varanasi, Kolkata and Mumbai are serving as a pitch for an Australian comedy movie Save Your Legs!

The movie is being described as a ‘wild ride from the suburbs of Australia to India’. It narrates the story of Edward ‘Teddy’ Brown, who is in a desperate bid to wind back the clock and cling to his childhood dreams. He begs his boss Sanjeet, a retired cricketer, to allow his D-Grade cricket club, the ‘Abbotsford Anglers’ on a tour of India. They lose all the matches, but win many friends along the way.

Renowned Indian actor Darshan Jariwalla (Gandhi, My Father) will play the role of Sanjeet. He will be joined by big-name Australian actors Stephen Curry (The Cup, The King), Brendan Cowell (Beneath Hill 60, Love My Way) and Damon Gameau (Balibo, Spirited) who star respectively as Ted Brown and his two best friends, Rick and Stav.

Melbourne girl Pallavi Sharda will star as Sanjeet’s gorgeous and savvy daughter Anjali who sweeps Ted off his feet once the ‘Anglers’ arrive in India for their tour.

First-time feature film director Boyd Hicklin will helm Save Your Legs! alongside producers Nick Batzias (Not Quite Hollywood) and Robyn Kershaw (Bran Nue Dae, Looking for Alibrandi). The script was written by Brendan Cowell, whose authorial talent has brought us The Slap and Love My Way

Pallavi has starred in a string of Hindi films ever since she moved to Mumbai in 2008, including My Name is Khan, Dus Tola, Walkaway and Love, Breakups, Zindagi as well as featuring as a recurring cast member of Anubav Pal’s theatre comedy, 1888 Dial India Pallavi was also crowned Miss India Australia in 2010 and won the ‘Fresh Look’ title at the Miss India

Worldwide competition held in Durban.

“Cricket is very much part of the relationship which binds Australia and India together in so many ways,” acting Australian high commissioner Lachlan Strahan, said in New Delhi recently. “It’s wonderful to see the best of Australia’s film industry taking the sporting and cultural relationship in a new direction, telling a very human story about a game which grips the national imagination in the two countries. All of this is done with humour and sensitivity”.

Indian actor Sid Makkar will also be seen in the film; which also includes a guest appearance by Indian Premier League (IPL) Extra Innings anchor Shibani Dandekar.

The film also features a cameo by cricket legend Sir Richard Hadlee, who will take to the pitch on the big screen for the first time.

The production in India is being supervised by Line Producer

Melbourne actor Pallavi Sharda will star in Save Your Legs!

Pravesh Sahni and his team at India Take One Productions (ITOP), who managed shoots of international projects like Mission Impossible 4, Eat Pray Love and Slumdog Millionaire

The world premiere of Save Your Legs! is scheduled for the Melbourne International Film

Festival in August 2012 before its commercial release in Australia and India later this year.

The phrase Save Your Legs! is commonly used in Australia when a batsman hits a boundary. It is the cry heard from teammates as there is no need for the batsman to run, hence the term “save your legs”.

I’m going to die this Valentine’s Day!” moaned my friend, often given to exaggeratedly dramatic statements which everyone mostly ignores.

“Why?” I asked, knowing that the answer was likely to make me tear out my hair.

“You know that Brett and I broke up three months ago… how will I survive V-Day without him! He was a right s*** most of the time, but he could get very romantic on Valentine’s Day,” she said mournfully.