Superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be the chief guest at this year’s Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, the festival organisers announced on Thursday.

Helmed by the Victorian government, Australia, the IFFM is back for its 10th edition in the cultural city and will celebrate “courage” as its central theme.Khan said he is honoured and delighted to accept the invitation.

“This event has grown significantly over the past decade and with the extraordinary Shah Rukh Khan here, this year’s festival is shaping up to be the biggest and most exciting yet,” he said.

“An industry of our magnitude and diversity deserves to be celebrated with great passion and fervour, which is what the festival embodies.

“I’m particularly pleased with the theme of the festival this year which is courage, an emotion that resonates with storytellers who really have the right to change the society and the world. I have had great memories of shooting for ‘Chak De! India’ in Melbourne and look forward to being back again, this time to celebrate Indian cinema,” the actor said in a statement.

“The Bollywood and Indian film industry is the biggest in the world and in addition to supporting this festival, we’ve announced a new Bollywood and Indian Cinema Attraction Fund to bring more film productions from India and the subcontinent to Victoria. Perhaps we’ll even lure Shah Rukh back to our shores again,” Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley added.