If you want a warm welcome in India, it helps to turn up with Sachin Tendulkar.
Merely being in the presence of the cricketing legend is enough to be a superstar in the subcontinent.
Tony Abbott found this out on Thursday, when the prime minister dropped in at a children's cricket clinic flanked by the great Indian batsman in downtown Mumbai.
The children went into overdrive when the pair started handing out signed bats and posing for pictures.
Former Test players Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee, who moments earlier had been the centre of attention as they offered the kids tips, were suddenly relegated to the sidelines.
But the Australian sporting greats were on hand to help Mr Abbott employ the "cricket diplomacy" that's always on display during any official visit to India.
The prime minister used the occasion to announce that a new film starring Brett Lee and Bollywood sensation Tannishtha Chatterjee would begin production in Sydney next month.
The actress will play a recently divorced Indian mother trying to find her feet in Australia, while Lee will star as the local heart throb.
UNINDIAN will be the first project of the Australia India Film Fund, established last year to invest in Australian movies with an Indian theme.
There are also unconfirmed reports that a collection of Don Bradman memorabilia could soon be touring India.
