Rani gets patriotic in Melbourne
The actress was at the launch of the Indian Cinema Attraction Fund, which will enable more filmmakers to explore Victoria as a shooting location
in Federation Square at the Indian Film Festival of In an effort to strengthen cultural and economic ties between India and Australia, Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria, announced plans to establish a $3 million (Dh11.01 million) Indian Cinema Attraction Fund, which will enable more Indian filmmakers to explore Victoria as a shooting location.
Andrews, who shared the dais with Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji as she hoisted the Indian national flag at the Federation Square in Melbourne, said that beyond a cultural celebration, it will be a “profound economic opportunity and a way in which India and Australia could come even closer together”.
“I am proud to announce that the Victorian government will establish an Indian Cinema Attraction Fund with $3 million in funding to make sure at least four films are made right here in Melbourne and Victoria over the next four years,” Andrews said, urging Indian filmmakers to seize the opportunity.
Victoria has earlier played host to a number of Indian film productions, including Chak De! India, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Salaam Namaste.
Mukerji, dressed in a chiffon sari in the biting cold — in true tradition of a Bollywood heroine — for the flag hoisting ceremony, sang a few tweaked lines from one of her songs in praise of the Premier’s incentive move.