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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Arnold Dix\u2019s life is boring, but he knows exactly who he thinks should play him in the movie about to be made about it.<\/p>\n \u201cCan I be really frank here? I said, \u2018let me play me \u2026 please, let me play me\u2019,\u201d says the 63-year-old tunnelling expert who shot to international fame in 2023 for his role in the rescue of 41 workers trapped<\/a> inside a collapsed road tunnel in the Himalayas.<\/p>\n And how did the producers respond? \u201cThey\u2019re rolling their eyes and laughing their heads off. \u2018No chance.\u2019 It\u2019s taken me a while to figure out why it\u2019s so funny, but now that I\u2019ve taken more interest in the film, I understand it would probably be wrong for me to play me.\u201d<\/p>\n The film in question is Silkyara 41, named for the tunnel site and the number of workers trapped inside. Announced on Thursday to mark the launch of this year\u2019s Indian Film Festival of Melbourne<\/a>, and to coincide with the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the city, it looks set to become the first feature film made under the recently signed co-production treaty between India and Australia.<\/p>\n Mitu Bhowmick Lange is producer of the Australian end, with Aamir Khan heading the Indian side. Kabir Khan (no relation) is set to direct, with the script being steered by Andrew Anastasios (The Water Diviner, Jack Irish, The Twelve).<\/p>\n It was Lange\u2019s husband who first alerted her to the story of the road workers, the collapsed tunnel, and the Australian who flew in by helicopter to help rescue them. \u201cHe heard Arnold speaking on a podcast, and the first thing he said to me was, \u2018this would make such a great movie, it\u2019s such a beautiful Australian-Indian story of friendship and collaboration\u2019,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n By coincidence, not long after that Dix\u2019s agent made contact with Lange, who is also a distributor of Indian movies in Australia and runs the aforementioned festival, with a pitch for a documentary based on his book, The Promise. \u201cBut the moment Arnold walked in and we started talking, I was like, \u2018no, this is a feature film\u2019,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no script yet. No cast. No locations. But Lange is confident the film will be in cinemas next year. \u201cThings move fast in India,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Whoever does play him, Dix, who lives in Monbulk in Melbourne\u2019s outer east, is absolutely clear about one thing: they must not portray him as a white saviour.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cI was absolutely not that, and if I had even smelled like I was behaving like that up there, they would have kicked my arse [and] put me on the first chopper out of there,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if that\u2019s how I came across [in the film] it would make me feel sick. I mean, god, that would be a fail. Let me write the review if it comes across like that \u2013 I\u2019ll give it the rotten tomatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n He was, he insists, \u201cjust one little cog in this big machine, and we did something truly extraordinary\u201d.<\/p>\n Though he may be at pains to downplay his own role, Dix wants people to understand clearly just how remarkable the rescue itself was. He\u2019s been involved in other attempts to extract people from collapsed tunnels and mines, he tells me, and it usually doesn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth of it is, I\u2019ve never been able to rescue anyone alive before, they always die,\u201d he says matter-of-factly. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s so extraordinary about this story, and I think that\u2019s the attraction of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the odds are always against you, he adds, whenever he or anyone else in the community of \u201cunderground people\u201d gets the call, they do what they can.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no money, there\u2019s no contract, you\u2019ve got no authority, it\u2019s just people helping one another.\u201d<\/p>\n That it worked out in this instance gives Silkyara 41 the makings of a potential feelgood hit. But it\u2019s the effort that Dix hopes resonates with people, as much as the outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cI really hope the movie makes people celebrate the inherent decency of being a human being at a time when mostly all we hear about are arseholes,\u201d he says. \u201cYou know, we rescued everybody, and they\u2019re all fine, and at a time when the world is so batshit crazy it\u2019s great to celebrate some decency and niceness.\u201d<\/p>\n The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne runs August 13-23. Details: iffm.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/c912d2c0a9653dee47eeeeecc21a682ab31a1a19.jpeg\")
The Silkyara 41 team (from left): Producers Aamir Khan and Mitu Bhowmick Lange, director Kabir Khan, engineer Arnold Dix and producer Aparna Purohit.Justin McManus<\/p>\n![\"Arnold](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7a2040c7b7cb6084e5ec57878648a805a222b7b1.jpeg\")
Arnold Dix became a celebrity in India after safely returning the workers to their families.<\/p>\n![\"Arnold](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fb36bf0f3e7688e5260e27ce6ac62d27dfa88575.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Arnold](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bd0d9f0d167f8130f34b3d56faee72901bfabedf.jpeg\")
Arnold Dix won the hearts of people in India when he got a blessing at a local temple.<\/p>\n