When Andrew Symonds danced to Dabangg, turned Gabbar in Bigg Boss 5: ‘I was touched his humility’

Cricketer Andrew Symonds’ sudden demise on Sunday left his Indian fans in mourning. The Australian legend might have remained one of the most dreaded all-rounders for his opponents on-field, but many in India got to see his fun side too, courtesy his appearances in and around the country’s entertainment circuits.
Ever since Andrew’s death, fans have dug out old videos to recall how he had wooed Indians outside the pitch. These include his gig at an event of Celebrity Cricket League in 2014. Andrew had appeared on stage with Bipasha Basu, as the event was hosted actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Riteish Deshmukh.

As part of his act, Ayushmann taught Andrew how to romance à la Bollywood, with Bipasha. The two hosts also made him ape Salman Khan’s Chulbul Pandey from Dabangg as the three men danced to the movie’s song, leaving Salman, who was sitting in the audience next to Kangana Ranaut, in splits.

Talking about his love for Indian films, Andrew said in the old video, “I like the colour. And I’ve got a great respect now obviously for all the choreography and the dancing. There’s a lot that goes into the singing and dancing. Everyone has to move together in time. It’s very difficult. And ofcourse, also the romance.”
For the unversed, Andrew was also a part of Bigg Boss 5 (2011). Videos from his stint on the celebrity reality show have also sprung back on social media. In one video, he copies Sanjay Dutt from Munnabhai MBBS, actor Akashdeep Saigal played Arshad Warsi’s character Circuit, and Juhi Parmar played a patient.
Andrew Symonds struck a close bond with Pooja Misra on the show, who helped him translate and communicate in Hindi. In another video, he’s channeling the Gabbar Singh in him. The cricketer is seen enacting the Gabbar-Kaalia scene from Sholay. While Shonali Nagrani plays Samba, Juhi Parmar enacts as Kaalia.

Remembering her memories of participating in Bigg Boss 5 with Andrew, Juhi Parmar told Times of India, “We had a lot of fun in the house and I was quite touched his humility.”
Recalling one particular task where Andrew had to sing Bollywood songs and woo the female contestants, Juhi shared how the cricketer messed it up, yet making it a hilarious and memorable task. She further told TOI, “When he had to woo me, he started singing a song which made no sense because he got all the lyrics wrong!”

Andrew Symonds also had an appearance in Akshay Kumar-starrer Patiala House which released in 2011.