Tell us a little bit about what you were doing before Kites.

I was born in Sydney, Australia. My mum was born in Sealdah, Calcutta and my father was born in Ooty. Both are of Anglo Indian origin which is why my last name is Brown. As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a singer and an actor. When I was seven, I started singing in a boys choir and got my first taste of showbiz. From there on I did musicals, from musicals I started to do plays. Then I went to a performing arts High School and began doing serious roles in Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams plays. I got accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art at 17. NIDA is the same acting school that Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchett and Baz Luhrman graduated from. For the next seven years I did a lot of theatre, played a lead in the raunchy Australian drama series The Cooks, released an album with my funk band Modernists, sang at many venues around Sydney, wrote two screenplays and then decided to move to India in 2007.

How did you land up the role in Kites?

It was a case of being at the right place at the right time, a bit of luck and a lot of hard work! I had sent my show reel to every single Indian producer and director I could think of. Rakeshji fortunately responded, liked my film and TV work from Australia and passed the reel on to Anurag Basu. Anurag called me the next day, auditioned me with a Spanish monologue and I got the job.

What does such a major Bollywood movie mean to you?

Nicholas as Tony in Kites

I feel very lucky and blessed to have such a big launching pad in such an international film. I’m extremely grateful to Rakesh Roshan and Anurag Basu for taking a chance on me. It hasn’t happened overnight though and I can honestly say that I’ve worked myself to the bone to get where I am now.

What are the differences in work culture and style that you noticed while working on Kites as opposed to the work you had done in Australia?

Well, the main difference is the language. On screen in Australia I’ve only had to speak English. In Kites I had to alternate between three different languages — Spanish, Hindi and English. When I spoke English I had to put on an American accent as my character is from Las Vegas. There were times when I felt schizophrenic! I couldn’t have played a character further away from myself. But what fun he was!

Barbara Mori plays your other half in the film. What was she like as a co-actor?

Barbara plays my fiance. We nearly get married in the film. She is a breath of fresh air to work with. Warm, relaxed, intense, funny, beautiful, sexy and extremely talented. My character is deeply in love with her but then turns on her when he is betrayed. Turning on her was hard for me because she is so beautiful!

And how was Hrithik to work with?

Hrithik was a joy to work with. He is so focused on his work and is a true professional. He was generous and helpful to me as it was my first time working in Bollywood. We had a lot of action scenes together which were a lot of fun. We were all out of our comfort zones, for Barbara and I, the language barrier kept us on our toes and for Hrithik, I think working with Anurag was a different process for him. Anurag is very impulsive and improvises a lot while Hrithik is a thinker and a perfectionist. It was interesting to experience and observe ourselves working out of our comfort zones. I think that made the performances more real and edgier.

Will Kites be your stepping stone to Bollywood or this was just a one-off experience?

I hope it’s not a one-off experience! I would like to continue working in Bollywood for many years.

What are your future projects?

I have been attached to a Hollywood Indian film called Mumbai Direct which is produced by Sooni Tareporevala and Nikhil Jassawala (who is choreographer Shiamik Davar’s cousin), a British Indian co-production Quick Slip Me a Bride, an Australian Indian co-production called The Test and I have just had my self-penned screenplay optioned which will hopefully start shooting early next year.