Bhana's work used humorous references to popular, often nostalgic, culture to explore exoticisation and commodification of South Asian aesthetics and traditions.[2][6]
Figures represented in his work included Basil Brush in 2012's Boom! Boom! Deluxe and The Brady Bunch in 2016's The Curry Bunch.[2] Bhana responded to Beyoncé's appropriation of Hindi bridal fashion in Coldplay's video for "Hymn for the weekend" with the exhibition Hey Bey.[7]
Postcards from the edge (2013) and Frankie goes to Bollywood (2016) used the techniques and subjects of Bollywood painted billboard advertising, combining them with New Zealand landscapes, first at postcard size[8] and then as large-scale diptychs.
In Frankie goes to Bollywood the paintings have titles in Te Reo Māori and Hindi, avoiding English and prioritising audiences familiar with the actors or landscapes depicted.[9] Balamohan Shingade suggests that the paintings push past the goal of representation in Western media, instead showing that "Indians already set their own standards and ideals, and inspire their own audiences".[10] Ruth De Souza describes them as a necessary interrogation of the neoliberal Tourism New Zealand depiction of India.[8]
