So you loved it when Brendon McCullum weaved magic with his bat, giving his team, Kolkata Knight Riders, an amazing start in the ongoing Twenty20 series? But will you love seeing him prance around trees in a Bollywood film at your neighbourhood theatre? For McCullum, clearly, likes the world of glamour — and may not say no if offered a role.

It may help that he has connections; when his team owner sneezes, Bollywood catches a cold. And Shah Rukh Khan owes McCullum one — with 158 runs, the New Zealander is the highest scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) series so far. On April 18, he hit 13 sixes and 10 fours off 73 balls, giving his team a 140-run victory over Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers.

He sits with his favourite soda in hand in the coffee shop at a five star hotel, just back from a practice session at Eden Gardens. You’d think that he would wilt in the Calcutta heat, but he shows no signs of fatigue or discomfort. On the contrary, this man actually likes the weather. “I love such climate,” he says.

McCullum is in his practice team jersey — a sleeveless version of the original black-and-gold team outfit. He is not wearing his red cap, though, the one that he will don till somebody else in the IPL series breaks his record of runs. “It felt good to wear the cap of honour,” he now says. “I will keep doing good work to retain it.” He is, however, only going to be here for the next two matches; he has to be back home in New Zealand for a one-day series against England.

McCullum is a courteous man — and the only time he seems a bit perturbed is when he hears that the interview is for 30 minutes. “Thirty minutes,” he keeps exclaiming. Of course, once the interview begins, he is completely at ease. There is just one rider: no questions on his family, he says.

But he opens up as he starts talking about his childhood in Otago, watching his father, Stu McCullum, play first class cricket for New Zealand. “My childhood was perfectly fine. I was a little naughty and loved watching my father and brother play cricket. As playing cricket runs in my family, it was a little obvious that I would go on to build a career as a cricket player.”

Was it all play and no work? Was he a good student? “What do you mean by a good student,” he asks with a chuckle. “An intelligent one or a nerd?” No, academics was never his forte, he adds. His loyalties lay elsewhere—namely, the cricket field.

It is not often that you have an ace wicket keeper who is also a deadly batsman. No wonder Khan had no qualms shelling out $7,00,000 to have him on his team. “I wasn’t present when the auction was taking place. So I can’t say much about it. But my family was excited at the prospect of my playing for IPL as it’s an amazing platform to sharpen as well as exhibit one’s skills on.” And the money part associated with IPL, he adds, is not bad at all.

Did he have a strategy in mind while playing his first IPL match in Bangalore? “Well, all that I thought of at that point of time was to get used to the pitch condition, observe the opponents’ strategy and then go for the huge hits. For that’s what the crowd had come to see.”

But some serious thought has clearly gone into the strategies of success. The IPL brings together players from rival teams who have often warred on and outside the field. “From day one I knew that with the IPL’s player combination, to make a team win one had to let the differences rest in peace. It meant the sooner we gelled, the better it was for the team’s performance and we all are working at it.”

McCullum doesn’t agree with those who think the IPL will affect the game of cricket, and may even sound the death knell for one-day international matches (ODIs). The IPL, he counters, will raise the ODI standard, as players will have to regularly come up with new strategies and techniques to outperform their rivals. McCullum, who had a stint at the county matches in England in 2006, where he played for the Glamorgan team, is all praise for the game that restricts each side to a mere 20 overs. “This is a great format. It’s going to revolutionise international cricket. Other countries like Australia and England might come up with similar matches.”

The player, who was a bit of a disappointment in last Sunday’s Calcutta match, blames the pitch for his lacklustre 5 runs against the Deccan Chargers. “The pitch wasn’t the way it should have been for a T20 match. The crowd is there to see the huge shots as the very format of the game says that it’s fast paced. However, it was nice that we won the match.” And the crowd, he hastens to add, was amazing. “This type of support really boosts one’s moral.”

He also likes the fact that Bollywood is a veritable part of the new series — and seems quite smitten by the glamour that it comes with. And Brendon has nothing but praise for team owner Khan. “Despite being a superstar he is so humble and down to earth. He is so passionate about the things that he does. It’s amazing,” he says. “Before the matches he comes and says, do well in the match and don’t worry. I am there to take care of any of your problems.”

Not surprisingly, McCullum says that while he loves cricket, he wouldn’t mind it if a Bollywood offer came his way. So what does he want to do — sing or play a hero or a villain? “I am not good at singing,” he chuckles. But he could always give both a villain and a hero’s role a try.

The 30 minutes with McCullum are over. That’s when you notice a tattooed wedding ring on the ring finger of his left hand. The man’s a romantic. And, clearly, he is also proud of his successes — they are etched on his heart, and tattooed on to his body. His right bicep reads “CXXVI XLII CCXXIV” — along with some floral patterns. Just what’s that?

McCullum reveals that these are numbers that he is proud of. CXXVI stands for 126 — his ODI cap number. XLII is 42 — his ODI shirt number. And CCXXIV is 224, his test cap number. “I love tattoos and have them all over my body,” he says. Now, all that he needs is one more tattoo on his body — CLVIII. That’s 158 for you.