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You need only glance at the highest-grossing Indian films recently to realise many aren’t Hindi (RRR and Pushpa 2 are in Telugu), and they’re generally more thrilling than melodramatic. That’s not to say Indian cinema no longer delivers musicals, Khan notes. Pushpa 2 itself features song and dance despite containing a fair amount of violence and gore.
As one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2013 for using film to spotlight issues like caste discrimination, most of Khan’s work delivers the very optimism to which he attributes Indian cinema’s success. For example, his most recent film Sitaare Zameen Par follows a basketball coach whose outlook shifts after training a group of neurodivergent adults.
There’s more to Indian cinema’s success than sheer positivity, though. Actor and International Emmy Award-winning comedian Vir Das (Delhi Belly) says India’s creative products are increasingly flourishing down under as perceptions around Indian culture itself shifts.
Vir Das believes Australia’s perception of Indian culture is changing, and with that comes greater appetite for the country’s art.Credit: Chris Hopkins
“As audience members begin to experience Indian people in places of equality, it’ll change,” he says.
“I remember 10 years ago, 15 years ago, every joke about an Indian person in New York, for instance, was about them as a taxi driver, a newsagent owner, a Kwik-E-Mart guy or a doctor. Now, we’ll hear jokes about Indian people, but it could be about an Indian being a CEO or about an Indian being at Harvard. It’s just par for the course. As we achieve parity globally with other countries, the comedy [and cinema] around us will become more global as well.”
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Perceptions will continue to shift as more Indian cinema lands on Australian screens, something that has become more achievable following the Australia-India Audio-visual Co-production Agreement, which provides filmmakers with access to shared funding and resources.
“[Indian cinema is] unapologetically emotional,” Das says. “We also tell broad stories that offer escape that isn’t all luxury escapes. What an American needs to do with CGI – Marvel and superheroes – we’re able to do the same thing with the heartland story, and without CGI, but the same level of escapism, just with pure storytelling.”
Other foreign-language films have also been performing well in Australia, including China’s Ne Zha 2, which is about to launch an English-language version with A24. Clearly, there’s hunger for more globalised storytelling and different cinematic styles beyond Hollywood.
“I hope [Australia] enjoys our stories,” Das says. “I hope they know what a big deal all these people are, and how cool it is to have them here at this festival.”
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne will run until August 24.
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