China’s Bollywood love affair growing
URUMQI : On a recent flight from Guangzhou to Urumqi in China’s northwest, the entertainment on overhead screens was Farhan Akhtar’s Rock On 2. There were hardly any South Asians on the plane, but many watched the film in its original Hindi soundtrack with Mandarin subtitles.
Whenever people across China encounter an Indian, the conversation usually veers to Bollywood– “Oh, I love Indian films” – and Aamir Khan, affectionately called “Mi Shu” or “Uncle Mi” and probably India’s biggest cultural export.
And top Chinese video streaming sites such as Youku, iQiyi and Tencent Video have sections dedicated to Bollywood.
China is in the throes of a love affair with Bollywood, one that has taken Indian filmmakers by surprise, leaving them scrambling to find new ways to capitalise on what is now the world’s biggest box office. According to Variety, theatrical revenues in China during the first quarter of 2018 were $3.17 billion, compared to $2.85 billion for North America.
Film industry insiders in China trace this love affair to the runaway success in 2010-11 of pirated versions of 3 Idiots, which wasn’t initially released in Chinese theatres. They credit Aamir Khan’s personal interest in the Chinese market for Indian cinema’s increased profile.
In the past, Chinese were familiar with Indian classics such as Awara, screened on state-run television in the 1970s. In subsequent decades, there was a drought that finally ended with the massive success of films such as Toilet: Ek Prem Katha ($14.2 million), Hindi Medium ($32.7 million) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (which grossed $45.5 million despite being released in China almost three years after its Indian debut).
Dangal ($193 million) and Secret Superstar ($119 million) outperformed Marvel’s Black Panther ($108 million) at the boxoffice even though the US has more slots than India in China’s quota system that allows in only 34 foreign films annually.