Australian cinemagoers are expanding their horizons as Indian films become a mainstay at the local box office.
For years, Australia and the West have been blind to the blockbusters adored by almost a fifth of the world's population.
But Indian films are now among the highest-grossing movies at Australian box offices, with animated Indian mythological epic Mahavatar Narsimha and Punjabi comedy-drama Chal Mera Putt 4 claiming spots in the top 10 at the weekend.
"The West is waking up to it now," 2025 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne director Mitu Bhowmick Lange told AAP.
These movies have long been popular with the Indian community, Australia's fastest-growing large diaspora.
But streaming services such as Netflix have helped make Indian cinema more accessible to audiences and hits such as Telugu-language action epic RRR, which broke into the Hollywood mainstream and won an Oscar in 2023, have put a spotlight on India's filmmaking industry.
However, many Australians continue to characterise Indian cinema as "Bollywood" films that revolve around singing and dancing, when it is so much more.
"'Bollywood' is mostly a Western term, rather than an Indian term, for Hindi films made out of Bombay," Lange said.
"India is a mini Europe in some ways - every state has its own culture, language and cinema and narrative, storytelling style, and yet they all resonate."
To highlight the scope of Indian movie-making, the 2025 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne is screening at least 75 films in 31 languages - from the expected Bollywood fare to coming-of-age stories and independent films about displacement, gender fluidity and humanity.
Indian actor Aamir Khan, who Ms Lange described as "if Tom Cruise met Nelson Mandela", helped open the festival on Thursday night to the screams and cries of his Australian fans.
Even those working security for the event were hoping to get in on the action, waiting patiently to take pictures at the end of the night.
Now in its 16th year, the festival has found growing success outside the Indian diaspora as the "second-generation cool kids and hipsters" bring their non-Indian friends, Lange said.
"Cinema is the biggest bridge that can bring countries and communities together," she said.
"For Australia, which has an increasing Indian population ... it becomes that much more important for all of us to try and understand each other."
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne continues until August 24.
