A new Australian comedy centred on Indian call centre workers stranded in regional New South Wales is set for a nationwide cinema release next month, with distributors unveiling the official trailer this week.
How to Talk Australians: The Movie will open in cinemas across Australia on June 11. The film is based on the viral web series How to Talk Australians, which attracted more than 12 million views on YouTube and developed a strong following for its satire of Australian slang and cultural habits.
The story follows students from the fictional Delhi College of Linguistics as they travel to Australia. Their journey changes course after storms divert their flight to Dubbo and their tour leader is detained by customs officials. According to the film’s synopsis, the group then encounters what it describes as the “real” Australia while missing major tourist destinations including Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The production arrives at a time when Indian-Australian representation in Australian film and television remains limited. The film’s distributors say it is the first Australian feature film led primarily by an Indian-Australian cast.
The cast includes Rohan Ganju, Ria Patel, Robert Santiago and Vikrant Narain, alongside Australian comedy figures Shane Jacobson, Danielle Walker, Dave Lawson and Rick Davies. Tony Rogers, known for Wilfred, directed and co-wrote the film with Rob Hibbert, who also worked on the original web series.
The film recently completed screenings in India, where it won Best Comedy honours at both the New Delhi International Film Festival and the Jaipur International Film Festival. It also held a sold-out Australian premiere tied to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Umbrella Entertainment, the Australian distributor behind the release, said the film offers “a humorous and lighthearted take on Australian culture through the eyes of a group of Indian call centre workers”.
The movie arrives as Australian cinema continues to see growing demand for stories reflecting multicultural communities, particularly among younger audiences familiar with online comedy formats and diaspora storytelling.
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