He was referring to the perception in India that Australia is not safe for Indians, particularly young students.

That was a view state Education Minister Bronwyn Pike, who visited the set yesterday, was happy to hear. ''There's been an impression created in some quarters that Melbourne isn't a safe and welcoming city, and I'm just delighted to be hearing a different message from the producers, the director and the stars. They see that they have a responsibility to turn that message around,'' she said.

Orange is a romance about two Australian students of Indian background, filmed in Sydney and Melbourne and set, ''against a backdrop of arts and painting and a young crowd and funk''. It stars Genelia d'Souza, a 22-year-old rising star of Indian cinema, and 24-year-old Ram Charan Teja, the son of legendary actor Chiranjeevi

With a 14-week shoot and a budget of about $A10 million - more than half of it to be spent in Australia - it is the biggest Indian production to shoot here. Despite a call to boycott Bollywood shoots in Australia in the wake of perceived racism, there were no signs of a slowdown.

''We have had maximum number of Indian films and maximum amount of money spent since that call was made last September,'' he said. ''The fact remains that a prolific country like India and a professional country like Australia in terms of films, when they come together it's a win-win situation.