La Trobe University > Industry and Community > Partnerships > Indian Film Festival of Melbourne > Aamir Khan

Celebrating India’s Independence with Aamir Khan

As part of the longstanding partnership between La Trobe University and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), Indian cinema legend and humanitarian Aamir Khan joined La Trobe University Chancellor, the Hon John Brumby AO, and IFFM to celebrate India’s Independence Day.

Since 2010, La Trobe University and IFFM have worked together to strengthen cultural, educational and research connections between Australia and India. The event, Partnerships and Innovation: A Celebration of India’s Independence with Aamir Khan, brought together industry leaders, researchers and cultural figures to explore how collaboration can drive sustainable development.

The event highlighted the shared commitment of La Trobe University and Khan's Paani Foundation to empowering communities through sustainable agriculture, water conservation and food security.

Guests included Victorian Minister for Veterans, Minister for Small Business and Employment, and Minister for Youth, the Hon Natalie Suleyman MP, Commonwealth Assistant Minister for Citizenship and International Education, the Hon Julian Hill MP and Federal MP Tim Watts.

The event showcased La Trobe University’s collaborative research in food security and sustainability, including ag-tech solutions to improve milk quality, advanced sensor and robotics technologies for water quality monitoring, and community-led action plans, such as the Clean River Ganga initiative. It also highlighted efforts to strengthen agribusiness supply chains between India and Australia.

These initiatives closely mirror the Paani Foundation’s work in drought-prone regions of India, supporting farmers in watershed management and sustainable agriculture practices.

“La Trobe University is proud of its long-standing and diverse collaborations with India,” the Hon John Brumby AO, Chancellor of La Trobe University, said.

“Our partnership with the Indian Film Festival and our growing research ties across the subcontinent reflect our commitment to global engagement, cultural exchange and social impact. This event was a powerful celebration of those values.”

IFFM Director Mitu Bhowmick-Lange also reflected on the significance of the occasion.

“India’s Independence Day is a moment of pride and unity, and we were thrilled to celebrate it with our partner La Trobe University, which has supported the festival since its inception. This event beautifully captured the spirit of collaboration between cinema, education and community development.”

La Trobe University's partnership with IFFM extends beyond the annual festival and includes student placements, cultural programming and academic collaboration.

The University also established the Asian Smart Cities Research Innovation Network (ASCRIN), supporting sustainable development and innovation across India and the broader region.

La Trobe University and India

  • La Trobe has been a proud partner of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne since its inception in 2010.
  • La Trobe University is ranked among the top one per cent of universities worldwide.*
  • The University has a proud record of educating students from India, with tens of thousands of people born in India among its alumni.
  • La Trobe University is one of the founding members of the Australia India Institute.
  • The IIT Kanpur – La Trobe Research Academy was established in 2020.
  • Founded in 2019, the Asian Smart Cities Research Innovation Network (ASCRIN) is La Trobe's largest research internationalisation initiative, with joint investment of more than AUD $43 million (Rs 235 crores). It is a partnership designed to improve sustainability, liveability and efficiency of Asian cities. Partners in the network include Tata Institute of Social Science, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) and Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-Pilani) which includes more than 250 researchers and over 70 joint-PhD projects.
  • The University established a Bio Innovation Corridor with India’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council and the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre to support the development of research and innovation.
  • BBC and La Trobe University jointly organised a 12-week IND–AUS LaunchPad Pre-Accelerator program, bringing together 11 high-potential Indian startups for intensive mentoring, market readiness training and cross-border networking to fast-track their global expansion.
  • La Trobe University launched the IGNITE LAB, a joint initiative with the BBC to support Indian startups expanding globally. The BBC–La Trobe Continuation Program (Bangalore) offers a pathway for Australian startups engaging with India via BBC as part of the IND–AUS LaunchPad framework.
  • Dignitaries La Trobe University has hosted from the Indian subcontinent include Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi, Kapil Dev, Malaika Arora Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi and actor, producer and women’s equality advocate, Shah Rukh Khan.
  • La Trobe is proud to support the recipients of the Shah Rukh Khan La Trobe University PhD Scholarships, providing a life-changing opportunity for aspiring female researchers from India to make a meaningful impact in the world.
  • La Trobe University is one of only two universities in Australia teaching Hindi and the only Australian University to teach a subject on the history, music and storytelling of popular Hindi cinema.
  • The La Trobe Library collection houses more than 38,000 volumes of monographs, journals, magazines and government publications from India, one of the largest collections in Australia.

*QS Top Universities, 2025, QS World University Rankings 2026: Top global universities; Webometrics, 2025, Webometrics Ranking July 2025.