Bollywood film set in Australia to focus on attacks

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Film-maker Mohit Suri plans to make a movie that will put the spotlight on a recent spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia that has caused diplomatic discomfort between the two countries.

Suri said he was inspired to write the script after an Indian friend based in Australia complained of discrimination.

The film, to be shot in Australia at the end of the year, is about an Indian student who thinks he was a victim of racial bias.

"So many Indian students go abroad to study thinking they will have a better life there because there are so many problems in India," the 28-year-old director told Reuters.

"But they go there and find that things are the same."

The recent attacks on students in Sydney and Melbourne have been described by the Indian media as race-based and have sparked angry protests in India.

Australia's government, which has launched an inquiry, condemned the attacks and said racism was not behind them.

Police said the violent assaults were purely criminal.