If there was any doubt to the popularity of Indian cinema in Australia, look no further than the box office rankings of late: Indian films have ranked among top 10 titles in 20 out of the 31 weekends of the year so far.
According to Numero data, there have been more Indian films released in Australia this year than ever before – already more than 130 titles.
Among them are breakout films such as Tolly Movies’s RRR, which grossed $3.6 million, and K.G.F Chapter 2, for which the Hindi version reached $2.6 million for Forum Films and Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam versions more than $867,000 for Tolly Movies.
On screen average, Indian films also often outperform blockbusters. Of the four-day weekend July 28-31, Mind Blowing Films’ Chhalla Mud Ke Nahi Aaya opened to $505,448 from just 64 screens – easily the highest per screen average in the top 20 at $7,898. Not bad when you also consider the competition included Thor: Love and Thunder, When the Crawdads Sing, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis.
All of this is exciting to see for Mind Blowing Films founding director Mitu Bhowmick Lange, who is also the the artistic director of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), which begins today.
Lange tells IF she has observed the appetite for Indian films grow across the last 12-13 years.
“They are having a bigger and bigger share of the market,” she says.
“A lot of it, of course, has to do with straightforward numbers, because more and more Indians and people from the Indian subcontinent are living in Australia. But it’s also the fact that the language of cinema is getting more globalised; more and more people are getting used to reading subtitles thanks to streaming platforms. And I think audiences are becoming a lot more diverse; not just the content but also the audience.”
Mind Blowing’s slate in any one year typically averages 35-45 films, with this year including a number of films delayed by the pandemic. It has had success over the last nine months with films such as Sooryavanshi, ($1.5 million), cricket film ’83 ($1.4 million) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 ($950K).
Lange has felt reassured to see people re-embracing the big screen experience post-COVID.
“I think the magic of watching films on the big screen – with a whole bunch of strangers, sitting and going on that whole emotional journey together – that’s very unique and I don’t think that will die so soon thankfully,” she says.
This year, the IFFM returns to cinemas for the first time since 2019. However, the festival is maintaining a national online component after Lange was so impressed by the penetration it got during 2020 and 2021.
“People were logging in from the remotest parts [of Australia]. Places I hadn’t even heard of. That encouraged us to keep this as an ongoing platform.”
IFFM’s app is fully integrated with AppleTV and Google Play, allowing people to watch on a smart television. All films are free to watch online, though the festival urges people to make donations to the Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital.
In addition, Lange also hopes the app will allow the festival to have an ongoing life throughout the year – not just in August – with plans to premiere new films every month.
This year’s festival has more than 100 films in the line-up in 29 languages, with over a third of the program films headlined by women. Lange says there is something for everyone: from Bollywood blockbusters through to documentaries and arthouse. Tonight opens with Dobaaraa, a mystery drama from Anurag Kashyap.
Some of Lange’s highlights include the digitally remastered version of 1959’s The World of Apu; documentary Ayena (Mirror), which looks at the aftermath of an acid attack on two survivors and their friendship; feature Boomba Ride, about a school in near Brahmaputra River, where teachers of a school struggle to keep it running as it has only one student; and the “extremely disturbing but important” drama The Rapist.
IFFM has also sought to include more films from the subcontinent, with Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner, Joyland, from Pakistani director Siam Sadiq, also to screen.
International guests include actor and producer Abhishek Bachchan, and actors Shefali Shah, Taapsee Pannu, Tamannaah and Vaani Kapoor. Festivities also include master classes, a Bollywood dance competition and a flag hoisting ceremony at Federation Square to celebrate India’s 75th Independence Day.
The Victorian government has backed the festival over the next three years with $3 million – including $2.3 million in new funding from the 2022 budget.
That funding has helped Lange launch a new IFFM production initiative, My Melbourne, in partnership with iconic Indian filmmakers, Rima Das, Imtiaz Ali, Kabir Khan and Onir.
With a focus on inclusivity and diversity, the project will see each director mentor the production of a short looking at the migrant experience across gender, race, disability and sexuality, then to be packed into an anthology feature to screen at next year’s IFFM.
The directors will lead writing and filmmaking workshops with the community, and work entirely with local cast and crew, with pre-production to begin in September.
“It’s also an opportunity for a lot of emerging young aspiring creatives to learn from some of the best in the world,” Lange says.
Lange, who also sits on the board of Film Victoria and WIFT Australia, has spoken before about her desire to see the Indian and Australian industries forge closer links
In 2018, she curated a showcase of Australian films for the Kolkata International Film Festival on behalf of the Australian High Commission, attended by the likes of Phillip Noyce, Garth Davis, Simon Baker, Sue Maslin and editor Jill Bilcock.
“Everybody sees the value, and everybody wants to engage with India. But I think there is a big question of how best to engage. India and Australia are very dynamic markets, but very different markets. It’s finding a way to figure things out and keep looking forward,” she says.
“The intent is there, but we are definitely not there yet.”
However, Lange believes the new co-production treaty between Australian and India should go some way to encouraging more collaboration. And as far as distribution is concerned, while Indian films are “definitely making a mark theatrically here”, she would like to see Australian films do the same in India.
“India is one of the largest English-content consuming countries in the world and it is also a country that loves films. So there’s no reason why we can’t actively push Australian films in India as well.”