Harbhajan Singh on his debut as a lead actor: Cricket is my first priority, I am today whatever I am because of the game

After making his mark in cricket, Harbhajan Singh has tried his hand at a different ball game altogether, pun intended- acting. While he did dabble with it here and there, the Tamil film Friendship recently marked his outing as a leading actor.

Offers had been aplenty till now. “I was offered Punjabi films earlier with big producers. I know a few of them they said ‘let’s make a movie with you’ I was too busy playing cricket, I didn’t have time to get into all this, I never thought about it. I always thought this is not my cup of tea. Acting is also something people learn. I have obviously faced the camera on field, this is like live hai, chala raha hai, reaction aa gaya. Here you have to actually get yourself into that zone,” says the 41-year-old, currently in Abu Dhabi to play in the Indian Premiere League (IPL).

Doing a full fledged film thus, was in his own words a ‘challenge’. Singh says the language was also something he had to grasp. “I honestly just went with the flow, thinking let’s just give it a try and see what happens. I never thought I will become an actor. My life has only been about cricket. Apart from it, I don’t think mere dimaag mein tha yeh karna hai, voh karna hai. If you don’t try, you will never know. After 10 years you might say kar lena chahiye tha. I will not have that regret,” asserts the cricketer.

Will he be open to taking up more films? Singh says he has already started getting more offers for Punjabi films. But he doesn’t know if he will be able to do them. “One thing is for sure, cricket is my first priority, it’s always been. I am today whatever I am because of the game. Whatever I got in life, is because of it. Aaj films bhi mil rahi hain, kyunki main aaj Harbhajan Singh bana hoon, na ki main tagda actor hoon ya tagdi shakal hai. Game has given me a name, uss lihaaz se mil rahi hain cheezein,” he quips.