A new Bollywood movie which portrays Melburnians as violent, racist bogans has been met with scathing reviews by Indians living in Australia and overseas.

The plot for Crook: It's Good To Be Bad centres on an Indian criminal who comes to Australia on a false passport and gets caught up in a race row.

It also portrays Melbourne as a city rife with violence and Australians as "beer-guzzling" men and pole-dancing women.

Gautam Gupta from the Federation of Indian Students, which is based in Melbourne, says the movie could not have come at a worse time, after four Victorian Police officers were sacked for circulating an email depicting an Indian man being electrocuted.

"I just wish the producers had done some more research and the timing of the movie is absolutely unfortunate," he said.

"Coming off the back of the racist emails the police are talking about and then this movie comes out."

Mr Gupta told ABC News Online the movie shows stabbings taking place in a 7 Eleven and implies that violence is an everyday occurrence in Melbourne.

But he says that is not the way Indians view Australians and there is little risk of it reigniting tensions which led to the attacks against Indian students last year.

"What they have shown is what any Hollywood and Bollywood movie would and that is take an issue and show the extreme side of it," he said.

"What we should be worried about is the police emails; they are the ones that are going to do damage. It's just a movie; no-one cares about it - in fact it's a flop in India.

"How do Indians view Australians? We should ask the cricketers who are in India six months a year.

"Indians know Australians as a cricket-playing nation ... Ask Brett Lee what country he has the biggest fan following in.

"There are a lot of emotions in the community and people are not thinking rationally. One movie should not be made the basis of anything."

Reviews in India have been blistering, with many people claiming it portrays the worst stereotypes.

"It displays beer-guzzling Australians and scotch-gulping Punjabis - stereotypes galore! The film is filled with unnecessary jokes that are attempting to add a light essence to the film but falls flat because it makes the film look even more tactless than it already is," said a review on Bollyspice.com.

"The plot is far too superficial and leaves you questioning the motive of the film."

"The film tries to pack in every sensational aspect of racism that is possible. There's a white woman who pole dances and sleeps with (the male lead) with equal fervour," said an India Today review.

"Naturally she is blonde and has big you-know-whats. There is an Australian man, her brother, Russell, who goes around hitting and bullying Indians. There is no other word for it. It's terrible. More than that, it is badly directed."

Mr Gupta says the situation in Melbourne has improved greatly since the riots last year.

"I must praise (Victorian Police Commissioner) Simon Overland. After a long time I can see he's done a very good job and has been unfairly criticised," he said.

"He's done some things I would say that were unwanted, like making statements that Indians should look as poor as they can, but that's now behind us.

"It's very difficult to try to change the culture of an institution and ... I support him 100 per cent in that endeavour."