Welcome to the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2015, the most exciting way to experience the best of Indian cinema in all its glory. By now you probably know the drill: a heady mix of movies and live events that bring the magic of the world’s biggest film industry to the heart of our famously multicultural city. It’s a proper masala mix of movie magic and, once again, we are adding a few new spices to the recipe.

As ever, the festival will have a theme, which this year is ‘Equality’. We will be highlighting the strides and struggles in reaching equality in gender, religion, disability, sexuality or anything else, whether in some of the films we show, the short films you make and appearances by role models from all walks of life, be they stars of Bollywood stars or everyday life.

Your favourite ingredients are all present and correct: You’ll find an incredible schedule of Australian and world premieres, Q&A sessions with some of the greatest Indian stars and filmmakers, Masterclasses with major Indian media figures, the Western Union Short Film Competition and the Telstra Bollywood Dance Competition. However, this year we have moved the festival into August to coincide with Indian Independence Day which, for the first time ever, we will celebrate in Federation Square.

Last year’s inaugural Awards Night was such a success we will now be hosting it in the very heart of Melbourne’s art world, the National Gallery of Victoria. Not only will we be presenting awards, this gala event will also showcase Indian and Australian fashion designers with a special show from Anamika Khanna, the first Indian designer ever invited to show during Paris Fashion Week. Furthermore, we have joined forces with Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital as a charity partner. The Awards Night will feature a silent auction and all proceeds will go to the RCH Foundation.

We are incredibly grateful to the City of Melbourne, our tireless ambassador Vidya Balan, our generous sponsors and, above all, all of you for embracing IFFM as a vibrant and vital cultural exchange. I hope you get to sample as many of the festival’s flavours as possible and will continue to help us improve the recipe of this unique annual filmic feast.