Directors Imtiaz Ali, Onir, Rima Das, and other crew of the film My Melbourne graced the press conference at the 30^th Kolkata International Film Festival.

The film has been directed by four directors namely Kabir Khan, Onir, Rima Das, and Imtiaz Ali.

The film has four different stories. Indraneel is a queer Indian man who reunites with his estranged father for a ritual in Melbourne. Sakshi, a newly married woman, and homeless Jules develop an unlikely bond. A dancer with a hearing disability, Emma meets another dancer with the same disability and feels motivated. Setara is an Afghan girl who is restarting her life in Melbourne after fleeing the Taliban.

Speaking at the press conference, Imtiaz Ali said “Working with three such talented directors has been a wonderful experience. This is simply because we have different sensibilities and we look at life differently. As a result, what you see in the film is just our perspectives”.

Rima Das while speaking about the film said “Indian actors are often portrayed as the male lead’s best friend or the guy next door in foreign films. I wanted to change that perspective or the take on the Indian actors. Melbourne is a melting pot of cultures. And through this film, we wanted to show you how different people from different backgrounds are rebuilding their lives in the city”.

Onir said that times are changing and the audiences are becoming more open-minded to things. “Four Indian directors worked with an all-Australian cast and crew. This was an amazing experience. There were workshops organized so that the story could be structured. These were important as people from two countries were involved in the filmmaking process. It helped in streamlining the process better and the filmmaking process was easy too”.

The cast of the film consists of Arka Das (Indraneel), Arushi Sharma (Sakshi), Kat Stewart (Jules), Ryanna Skye Lawson (Emma) and Jackson Gallagher (Chris).

The music has been composed by Tamil Rogeon and Anurag Sharma.

The film was produced by Mitu Bhowmick Lange and Leanne Tonkes.

The film is of 100 minutes duration and is a Hindi/English language film.

Priyanka Dutta