Victoria steals the limelight

well as to its contractua l company, Mind Blowing Films

Bollywood is an in tegral part of the Indian DNA: lndians carry tbis 'gene ' with them ro whichever part of the world they travel, and this is pas sed down from one generation to another.

A great leve!Je r, Bo!Jywood brings cogether people not only of differenc age groups, but also of different li nguistic, social, cultural and educational backgro unds.

Mel bourne's Indian commuuity is set ro bring in a ceiebration of a!J things Boll ywood shortly. The state o f Viccoria has manage d co win the hearts of the local Indian community through their support of tbe Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. No ocher state has offered such support to their Indian c o mmunity.

Only in its du.rd year so far, the Film Festiv al has grown in stature by leaps and bounds. Tc has beco m e one of tbe m ost anticipated events in the social calendar of Victoria 's Indian communi ty. For this, c redit needs co go botb t o the politicians wid1 a vision as

As head of Min.d Blowing Films, Mini Bhownuck Lange h as constan tl y delivered co tbe state o f V ictoria on this venrnre. The festival bas b ee n ab le co bring in India's l ead accors to Melbourne on a regular basis

A - lis t names such as Rani Mukherjee, Vidya Balan, Shahid Kapo or, Prii1aoka Chopra, Malaika Arora Khan etc have trekked down under to link b oth the s tate of Victo r ia and L1dia through B o llywood. Quality events such as d1e cliru1er at the residence of one of Austrnlia's most prestigious families the Pratts, the interaction and invo lvement of high society witl1 Boll ywood, and th e public events sucb as th e dance c o mpetitions, shore fi l m conrests and master classes with film - makers have brougbt in the masses not only from w it hin the community bu t from d1e mainstream as well.

Like witb m ost other e ndeavours, there has been some debate o f tl1e value and people. behind th.is veomre (ch e no -show of the iconic scar Amicabh Bachchan at last year's event was one such controvers y) However, the success o f the past IFFM functions have vindicated th e confidence whicb t he

Authorised Agent

Victorian government has placed in Miru B howmick L ange and her Mind Blowing Films. While most detractors have had vested interests in g rabbing a headline, it seems chat no o ne has yet been ab le to share their vision of bow an alternative can be established. Till another formula is found, o ne which is working ought to be appreciated

Thi s brings us to an interesting o b servation about Indian links in Victoria. W hat Victoria ha s done well, with t he efforts of well-meaning indi\7 idual s, is to b lo ck at least two hig h profile events in the calendars of the local I ndian community The Victorian Festival of Lights at Federation Square (with its team h eaded by d1e dynamic and visionary ArLu1 Sharma) and the Indian Film Festival of l'v[elboutn e executed by Mim Bh own.uck Lange have established a new qu orum o n successfuI public events in tbe Indian communi ry in Australi a. The w ider lnd ia n communiry in Australia needs to appreciate these offerings and emulate them.

Of course, i f Vi ctoria ever tires of tbese co rnmuniry endeavours, other s tates (es pec ially NSW which is sadly b e reft of anyth in g subsrnntial Bollywood -based), could grab these great o ppo rru1-uties co en gage w ith local Indians who are bonded by all things Bo llywood.