Abstract

Over the past ten years, Australia has been used increasingly as a background location in Indian feature films, music videos and television advertisements, and Bollywood film-makers are offered government incentives to film in Australia in order to showcase Australia in India. The progressive liberalisation of the Indian economy since the early 1990s has led to competition between capitalist economies to do business with India, and Bollywood is regarded internationally by government trade and tourism commissions as a means of destination marketing. This paper considers the branding of the Australian city as both cosmopolitan and multicultural, and how this relates to both the demands of Indian film-makers and the lives of South Asian Australians. It assesses representations of Australia in such movies as Dil Chahta Hai (2002), Salaam Namaste (2005) and Heyy Babyy (2007) in relation to Australian brand messages and the representation of cultural diversity. Finally, it considers how Australian public diplomacy regards diasporic communities in terms of showcasing Australia internationally.