Aamir Khan film ‘Secret Superstar’ lives up to the hype to become king of the Chinese mainland weekend box office

Secret Superstar, the Indian musical comedy, lived up to expectations by topping the weekend box office in China with 172 million yuan ($26.85 million) after its premiere on January 19.

After Aamir Khan’s Indian sports film Dangal became a breakout hit in the mainland with a total revenue of 1.29 billion yuan ($202.52 million), more than double its earnings of $77.31 million in its home market, producers and distributors were fully confident that Secret Superstar, another Khan production, would do well in China.

The film currently has a 8.1/10 on Chinese sites Douban and Mtime, a little lower than Dangal’s score of 9.1/10 on Douban and 8.5/10 on Mtime. Since Dangal was translated as Shuaijiao ba! Baba (Let’s Wrestle! Dad), some Chinese netizens have given the new film the nickname Lihun ba! Mama (Get Divorced! Mum).

Coming in second was nostalgic Chinese drama Forever Young, with 117 million yuan in its second weekend. As of Monday noon, the film has made a total of 441 million yuan.

Ranking at third and fourth were two new films from the US, animated film Ferdinand (59.82 million yuan) and drama Wonder (54.67 million yuan). Hollywood action adventure Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came in at fifth place with 49.05 million yuan. Opening in the mainland on January 12, Jumanji has collected a total of 426 million yuan as of Monday noon.