 "Can Aamir Khan help Bollywood scale the Great Wall of China?")
China may have taken a liking to the _naach-gaana_of Bollywood but it never embraced films from India like it did from Hollywood. But according to reports, the Indian film industry is preparing to try and make new inroads into the country and will have none other than Aamir Khan leading the charge.
An Economic Times article reports India’s commerce ministry is trying to sell more Bollywood hits to China, and will start with a 200-screen release of the Aamir Khan-starring mega-hit _Dhoom 3_on 26 July.
The ministry is reportedly also commissioning a study with the Indian film industry to understand the tastes and trends of the Chinese film industry, and offer films “more suitable for the audience there”, a commerce department official told_ET._
The importance of the Chinese movie market is not to be underestimated, it’s tipped to be the world’s largest movie market by next year, and ticket sales are too high for any movie industry to ignore.
[caption id=“attachment_75584” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
A poster of the movie Dhoom 3.[/caption]
Hollywood has jumped at the opportunity and has been making ‘China-flavoured’ movies, particularly its blockbuster films, for some time now.
A Telegraph report notes that in a bid to appeal to the Chinese audience and its government, major production companies are packing their cameras and moving to China.Legendary Pictures, Paramount, Dreamworks, 21st Century Fox, and Disney are just some of the major studios with projects or companies based in China.
Given the Chinese government’s restrictions, Hollywood filmmakers have even re-edited their films for better success in the Chinese market. The Telegraph report points out that the makers of_World War Z_ removed a discussion over whether the zombie apocalypse started in China, James Bond film Skyfall didn’t feature a scene where a Chinese security guard was assassinated and Men in Black 3 removed all scenes set in Chinatown, New York.
Foreign film sales constitute only 15 per cent of the total China’s film market, and presently China buy only five films from India annually, a quota that isn’t being met due to a lack of popularity, notes the Economic Times . While Bollywood’s hits have been able to break new ground in the west, they haven’t done quite as well in China.
A DNA report notes that 3 Idiots_broke Bollywood box office records in China 32 years after_Awaara_first won Chinese hearts. But other releases like_Veer, Krrish and _My Name is Khan_didn’t exactly set cash registers ringing.
While Bollywood isn’t close to following the Hollywood model of remaking films for its Chinese audiences, it will be hoping that it can at least get a foothold in a market that is only set to grow in the coming years.