Tennis biggie Leander Paes is ready to make entry into the Hindi Film Industry as he has recently signed on to play a lead role in a Hindi movie.

When questioned what he would like to do when his long and victorious career as a tennis professional finally over, Paes had mentioned various options, which includes writing columns, establishing a sports science institute, doing business in fashion designing and doing TV commentary.

"I could even turn a filmstar, don't I have the looks!" Paes said.

That was a good 4 years back and hum like a joke.

Well, India's multiple grand slam winning doubles tennis specialist must have raised serious filmi dreams, and his ambitions to enter Bollywood may come true shortly.

"I have got several offers to act in films in the last decade but turned them down... I've been approached once again, but nothing's been finalized yet," Leander said. "I believe no human being is one-dimensional, so if a script comes along which appeals to me, I'm not averse to the idea."

Mr. Hiranmoy Chatterjee, Bengal Tennis Association (BTA) secretary, said that Paes, who won the Australian Open mixed doubles with Zimbabwe's Cara Black on Sunday, has been learning Hindi as well as acting.

"He has been taking acting lessons at Anupam Kher's institute for some months. He's passionate about everything he does and it's no different in this new venture," Mr. Chatterjee added.

While confirming the development, Anupam said, "I had a confidentiality clause not to speak about him... but since I hear that his family has spoken about it... yes, he did train under me. He makes for a very fine actor. He is as good an actor as a player. I and the dean of Actor Prepares, Yashraj Yadav, prepared him for his debut."

"We worked with him for a month and he satisfied us. I wish him all the best on his acting career and his career as a sportsman," Kher added.

According to the sources, the film, to be produced in both Hindi and Bengali languages, will hit theatres by the end of current fiscal.

We wish him best of luck for his new role and hope the tennis ace shines in the reel too!