When Shane Warne had a Bollywood offer waiting for him

Shane said he wanted either Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio to portray him in a ‘Hollywood-ised’ biopic.

Australian cricketer Shane Warne passed away on Friday at his Thailand Villa. Back in 2015, Shane had revealed that he had a Bollywood offer waiting for him.

In another interview, Shane said that he wanted either Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio to portray him in his planned ‘Hollywood-ised’ biopic, which was being made for the Indian audience, reported Hindustan Times. When rumours surrounding Shane’s alleged Bollywood debut initially surfaced, the cricketer – who had retired from the sport by then – told PTI, "There is an offer. There is someone who has something for me.”

A few years later, he revealed that an Indian production company was in talks to produce his biopic. However, it was later put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “I think hopefully by the end of the year or early next year we'll pick it up again and see what's going on,” Shane said at the time.

He added, “A guy has written a script about it, this company want to shoot it, so it's basically a Hollywood movie shot for India. And they're basing it on my story of how we put together the Royals in 2008 and they've 'Hollywood-ised' it. It's all sorts of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll stuff."

On Friday, Shane's management released a brief statement to the Australian media, saying that he passed away in Koh Samui, Thailand and the reason could be a suspected heart attack. Several Bollywood celebrities such as, Shilpa Shetty, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Shibani Dandekar, Varun Dhawan and others mourned the Australian spinner's death on social media. Cricketers including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also posted heartfelt messages on their social media handles.

Shane was regarded one of the greatest spinners to have played the game. Known for his guile and attacking bowling, he took a total of 1001 international wickets. He was a vital part of the all-conquering Australian team of the 90s and early 2000s.

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