<i>Lee goes Bollywood</i>
As the furore over the Indian cricket tour raged on Tuesday, Australian stars Brett Lee and Mike Hussey were playing out their own Bollywood drama at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Lee and Hussey are among some 20 international cricketers playing themselves in the Indian movie 'Victory' being shot in Australia.
As Lee fielded for the cameras at the site of the controversial second Test which ended in acrimony on Sunday, the Australian team was fending off harsh questions about their sportsmanship.
Lee would not comment on the controversy, saying only: "We are here to talk about the film."
But the film's Indian producers said they were not worried about the dispute.
"If anything, people will be more willing to watch a cricket film," Australian line producer Anu Sharma told reporters.
"The two religions in India are cricket and Bollywood and this is a combination of the two," he said, adding that the expected audience for the movie was more than one billion people.
The 6 million dollar production is the story of a young, impoverished cricketer who realises his dream of playing cricket for India.
"The whole film is about his journey. From a poorest, struggling cricketer to the richest cricketer," Sharma said.
"And even through this journey, as you will see when the movie is released, the discovery is that it's about cricket and nothing else. It's all about sport, it's all about sportsmanship."
Sharma shrugged off the latest controversy, which has seen the Australian cricket team described in the media as 'a pack of wild dogs' and a call for captain Ricky Ponting to step down.
"As someone who's done more than 150 Bollywood films in Australia, and I have a story for each one of them, I have to say: this is a typical Bollywood project. Something always happens," he said.
And he denied that the Aussies would play the bad guys in 'Victory'.
"Why would Australian cricketers play villains? Australian cricketers, they are the most popular guys in India," he said.
'Victory' will not be a musical, but the producers were tight-lipped on further details.
Comments