Bollywood a big hit among expat Indians

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Sydney: Australians have always complained about the isolation, which they have to endure because of the geographical location of this gigantic islandcontinent. The fact that most of the population is concentrated on the south-eastern coast makes this isolation even more pronounced.

The Indian expatriate community in Australia feels the pangs borne out of the remoteness too and is always on a lookout for every conceivable method to relive the Indian experiences in Australia. The forlornness is even more intense in the nearby New Zealand.

Indian feature films provide one such link with the Indian mainland to these children of diaspora. According to reliable estimates, there are about250,000 people of Indian origins living in these two south Pacific countries.

Sydney and Melbourne are the two largest cities in Australia and both of these two metropolitan cities have huge population of the Indians and othercommunities from the Indian sub-continent. These two harbour cities are also home to a sizeable Fiji-Indians' population, which is considered to bemuch more ardent follower of the Bollywood blockbusters than, even, the migrants from the 'mainland' India.

Sri Lankans living here in Australia also follow Indian films with surprising passion. "They may not understand the language or terminology fully but they have to watch the latest Indian film come whatever may," says Kautilya Sharma, a Melbourne-based businessman.

Lebanese community is another segment, which shows some interest in the Bollywood flicks. In New Zealand, Auckland houses the largest chunk ofIndians settled in that country with bewitching picture postcard beauty, which has become the major draw-card for the Indian film producers to shoot their flicks.

Like in other industrialised countries, Hindi films are a major source of entertainment for the Indians in this part of the world. Its not that only housewives and old and frail Indians subscribe to the films madein India.

Surprisingly, a large number of the second generation Indo-Australians also watch the Indian films regularly and try to keep abreast with the latest Bollywood gossip through Indian film glossies or Internet.

No wonder almost every Indian film shown here in the "mainstream" auditoriums has to put up 'house-full' signs. Of late, Australia has become a major destination for the Indian students.

At anytime in the year, there are 20,000 Indian students minimum present inAustralia. Pakistani and Sri Lankan students further inflate this number to impressive proportions.

It is this floating population which ensures the successful screening of the Indian films, film-based stage shows and sports games involving India in theprincipal cities in the region.

Its not that only Bollywood blockbusters are lapped up by the Indo-Australians. The films often labeled "arty" or "offbeat" also have a sizable following among the Indian film buffs.

"But they have to be well-advertised and covered by the Australian media," opines Sydney-based Hartaj "Dimple" Banga of Desi Inc. Entertainment Productions which organises entertainment programmes in Australian metropolitan cities.

Those offbeat Indian films, which have some controversy associated with them and are either dubbed or made in English language become instant hits not only in the auditoriums but also in video cassette libraries.

" Films like 'Bandit Queen', 'Fire' and 'Earth' attracted quite a few people and they still ask for these art films, their 'movement' is satisfactory,"says Ben Kumar, manager of Tara's International Trading, one of the leading grocery stores-cum-video libraries in Sydney's south-western suburb Liverpool.

India Abroad News Service



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