Indian expert reveals Aamir Khan’s secret to success in China
NEW DELHI: The willingness to take on thorny social issues, while also remaining entertaining has been the secret to Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s success in both India and China, an Indian expert said.
“All actors are out to make money. You can make money by showing heaven but not doing anything. And Aamir Khan’s approach is to discuss hard issues. But he also adds the entertainment. And he makes money out of it,” said Srikanth Kondapalli, an Indian professor and China expert at Jawaharlal Nehru University here.
Kondapalli said China could learn from India’s “soft power” and movies by Khan, which have been warmly welcomed in the country.
Khan is widely known in China for his hit films Dangal and Secret Superstar, which earned more than two billion yuan (US$288 million) in total after they debuted in the Chinese mainland in 2017 and January 2018. Dangal actually earned more in China than in its home country.
The movie even entered dialogues between top leaders of the two countries at a meeting in Astana in 2017.
“He (Aamir Khan) discusses about grounded reality. It is common to everyone. The movie Dangal is realistic. It’s about female education and child education. It touches on the gender equality issue and gained resonance from audiences from both countries, who are each facing their own particular situations,” Kondapalli said.
“What’s important is that Khan kept his movie entertaining at the same time,” Kondapalli added.