Maryam Farooqui Moneycontrol News
Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal is spreading its wings in the Chinese film market as the film opened at second spot at the China box office and earned around Rs 13.19 crore (USD 2.05 million) after its release on Friday. On Saturday the film collected approximately Rs 27.939 crore (USD 4.17 million) taking the total to Rs 40.20 crore (USD 6.25 million).
Touted as the widest release in China, the movie is playing at 9,000 screens in the neighbouring country’s movie market.
Makers of the film are aggressively marketing the film in China that released with the name Shuai Jiao Baba, which means “Let’s Wrestle, Dad”. They have doubled their budget to promote the movie as its predecessor PK broke Rs 100-crore mark in the country.
Rajkumar Hirani’s PK was well received in China and Aamir Khan’s magic worked for the business of the film. Released in 4,500 screens, PK made a mark in the Chinese mainland with its captivating story line and amusing concept.
But, it was 3 idiots that opened up the Chinese market for Indian films. The movie had grossed about USD 3 million in the country which is the second largest market for movies after the US with 40,000 screens and it is worth USD 4.8 billion and grew 34 percent in 2014.
However, film trade analysts are skeptical about the movie business in China as they believe that only big ticket films get the opportunity to showcase their movies in the country. Also, stringent censorship norms, difficulty in getting distribution deals are some of the hurdles for Bollywood. Another stumbling block for Indian films is the limitation in foreign film releases, restricted to 34 a year. Out of the 34, nearly 90 percent are Hollywood productions and only 1.5 percent non-Hollywood foreign releases enter the Chinese film market.
Earlier, Indian films had a strong appeal in China, the proof of which was the successful run of 1951 hit Awara, starring Raj Kapoor and Nargis. But, after 1980s the scenario changed and Bollywood lost its shine in the Chinese movie market. However, with internet bringing worldwide content on to one platform, Indian films are making a comeback in China and it is becoming hard for the youth of the country to not groove to the hit songs of Indian films.
This makes a strong case for Baahubali 2: The conclusion, the film which has collected around Rs 266 crore (India business) and is expected to surpass Rs 300 crore mark before the second weekend. Its prequel, Baahubali: The beginning had opened in 6,000 screens in China and had collected approximately USD 630,000 gross at the Chinese box office in the first weekend.
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