Synopsis
From wiggling hips on Darling Harbour, to group-dances on the steps of the Opera house, from romantic duets at the 12 Apostles, to the lovers claiming their adoration from the spire of centerpoint tower. The bizarre, boisterous, and bosomy Bollywood is presenting Australia to hundreds of millions of audience
members around the world. Inexplicably, the Australian media seemed drawn to the vibrant, sonorous, and
organised chaos of Bollywood, and Indian film crews have quickly become the darling of the Australian media. Media coverage of Bollywood downunder has
been on a steady incline since the first film shot locally in 1998, with even the most mainstream television channels offering vibrant, sari-laden stories.
It is not simply the media which have hopped onto this ‘Bollywood Bandwagon’ though. Politicians, tourism commissions, government and private bodies, and
individual players are each trying to cash in on, use, or misuse the Bollywood onslaught. In the past 10 years here have been Government and private delegations to Bollywood, seminars in India on filming in Australia, Export clinics, Indo Australian film festival collaborations, and a series of other associations which have served to strengthen the already solid ties between the Australian and Indian film industries.
For the media it was and is always an exotic yet palatable story, especially with the global fame Bollywood had been attracting in the recent past. For the authorities it was a growth industry, high profile and glamorous enough for them to get their 15 minutes of fame and to promote their agendas.
However, with the brass of Bollywood, there is also comes the ‘arse and farce’- a not so picturesque vision of immigration scams, changing visa regulations and unpaid debts to Australians. The film is a first ever tongue in cheek, humorous, musical, colourful, and
musical look the brass, arse, and farce of Bollywood down under set against a global race to woo Bollywood.