Anurag Kashyap’s acclaimed thriller Bandar, starring Bobby Deol and Sanya Malhotra, will headline the closing run of the National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA), as the festival billed as the world’s biggest celebration of Indian cinema outside India, opened the final leg of its 2026 edition in Melbourne on Friday.
Australia’s national screen museum, ACMI, has joined as a cultural partner, while filmmakers Anubhav Sinha and Leena Yadav feature among the Indian guests appearing across the remaining cities of Hobart, the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
NIFFA has also signed a three-year partnership with Destination NSW, the New South Wales Government’s tourism and major events agency, which will make the state the festival’s Focus State across India and Australia in 2027. The tie-up reflects growing momentum since the India–Australia Audiovisual Co-Production Treaty came into force.
With the Film Heritage Foundation India, the Melbourne programme pairs new Indian cinema with restorations of two classics: Shyam Benegal’s Manthan (1976), restored in 4K; and the 1989 cult film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, written by Arundhati Roy, which screens at Reading Cinemas Dandenong with its lead actor attending.
“Indian cinema is not niche here. It is a serious cultural and commercial force, and a living bridge between our two countries,” festival director Anupam Sharma said.
The festival this year has travelled to nine cities, from Sydney and Perth to the outback centres of Alice Springs and Broken Hill.
Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha said “beyond the major capitals into regional and outback centres is no small thing,” especially “now that the co-production treaty is active.”
Leena Yadav praised NIFFA as “a space being built deliberately for reflection, dialogue and discovery”.
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