Baz Luhrmann recalls extraordinary India visit after student attacks

Hollywood and Australian film director Baz Luhrmann embarked on a personal peace mission to India following attacks on foreign, including Indian students in Australia.

During the 10-day visit, the award-winning film director painted a mural on the side of a hotel in Mumbai and journeyed through Rajasthan on a motorbike, painting artworks with local children. Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo accompanied him, the Herald Sun reports

''I think we both feel, as a lot of Australians do, that if you have any connection to India you feel really, really sad and disturbed. We never see our country as particularly racist or particularly violent,'' Luhrmann said.

The attacks - including the fatal stabbing of Nitin Garg in Melbourne on January 2 - have strained political relations between Australia and India and sparked protests in both nations.

''As artists, we can stand up and very directly say, 'Look, this is not the voice of our country, this is not the attitude of Australians,''' Luhrmann said.

''Every country, I said, has a few sick, tragic losers who do very tragic things. It's really important to identify that this is not the Australian voice - and the connection between Australia and India has always been really strong.''

The Mumbai mural painted by the pair included images of Elvis Presley and dancer Gene Kelly as well as Bollywood iconography.

During his trip he also held a press conference in Delhi and met Bollywood stars, including actor Amitabh Bachchan, promoting the message of friendship between both countries.

An accident outside Delhi left him with a broken hand.

''A guy jumped from a moving bus, collided with my bike, and, well, it was a good ad for protective clothing,'' said Luhrmann, adding it was ''a small price to pay for a pretty extraordinary trip''.

He said his ''Indo-Australian peace initiative'' came from ''just a genuine place, honestly. It was very positive and joyous and exciting.''