Nonpolar a-plane InN films were grown on r-plane sapphire substrate by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy with GaN underlayer. Effect of growth temperature on structural, morphological, and optical properties has been studied. The growth of nonpolar a-plane (1 1 -2 0) orientation was confirmed by high resolution X-ray diffraction study. The film grown at 500 °C shows better crystallinity with the rocking curve FWHM 0.67° and 0.85° along [0 0 0 1] and [1 -1 0 0] directions, respectively. Scanning electron micrograph shows formation of Indium droplets at higher growth temperature. Room tem-perature absorption spectra show growth temperature dependent band gap variation from 0.74-0.81 eV, consistent with the expected Burstein-Moss effect. The rectifying behaviour of the I-V curve indicates the existence of Schottky barrier at the InN and GaN interface. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.