Twenty years ago, a country singer from the mountains of Dehradun walked into Tamworth, the capital of Australian country music, and walked out an overnight sensation. Australia called him The Indian Cowboy.
His story is now heading for the big screen. At a reception hosted by Philip Green OAM, Australian High Commissioner to India, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns MP announced a new feature film inspired by the life of Bobby Cash, alongside NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey MLC, Australia’s first Indian-origin state treasurer.
The film will be directed by Anupam Sharma, the Sydney filmmaker behind Brett Lee-starrer UnIndian, and widely credited with pioneering Australia’s modern film links with India. Award-winning NSW writer-director Victoria Wharfe McIntyre joins the project as screenwriter, with Satish Sharma coming on board as Indian co-producer.
It is less a conventional biopic than a story of music, migration and identity — of a man who carried a guitar from the Himalayan foothills into regional Australia and discovered that a voice can cross a border faster than anything else.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said: “Bobby’s story is a great example of the connection between India and NSW — a musician from Dehradun who found an audience and a home in Australian country music. It’s fantastic to see that story now being made into a film in NSW, bringing Indian and Australian talent together on screen.”
Anupam Sharma, the film’s director, said:
“Bobby’s is a story India gave Australia, and Australia gave back. Twenty years on, it still tells you everything about what these two countries can be to each other. To have the Premier and the Treasurer of New South Wales announce it on Indian soil, at the Australian High Commission, says the relationship has grown up. From the regional Himalayas to regional New South Wales — the Indian Cowboy rides again.”Bobby Cash said: “I left the hills of Dehradun with a guitar and no plan. Australia gave me a stage, and Tamworth gave me a name. Country music is about where you come from — mine just happens to be the Himalayas. If this film says anything, I hope it is that a song does not need a passport.”
Victoria Wharfe McIntyre, the screenwriter, said: “I love dichotomy — the man who feels foreign in his own land, disparate cultures rubbing together, country and city, the contrasts that live within us all. Bobby Cash walks that line and, through his music, brings together worlds that could not be more different: the regional Himalayas and regional NSW.
“This is, quite literally, an incredible true Australian-Indian story, and I’m so grateful to tell it alongside director Anupam Sharma.”
Satish Sharma, the Indian co-producer, said: “The most exciting thing for me is that this project has its roots in the beautiful Dehradun Valley, with its forests and mountains of Uttarakhand. I’m super excited to be working with Anupam Sharma, Bobby Cash and Victoria on this project, which is all set to bring glory to our city of Dehradun and Uttarakhand on the global stage.”
