A Chinese poster of Maharaja, an Indian Tamil film which is proving to be a hit in China. -- PHOTO: CHINASPOX_INDIA/X
BEIJING/NEW DELHI (The Straits Times/ANN): A Tamil film has emerged as a rare winner at the Chinese box office, ringing the cash registers there since its release on Nov 29 and accentuating China’s importance as the largest overseas market for Indian films, one that more film-makers are keen to break into.
'Maharaja', an action thriller directed by Nithilan Saminathan and featuring the versatile and highly respected Vijay Sethupathi as its lead actor, has earned more than 630 million rupees (S$10 million - RM33 million) in less than a fortnight in China – the world’s second-largest box office market after the US.
Takings have surpassed a third of the film’s global box office receipts and rival the hit film’s collection of around 724 million rupees in India.
The film is on track to become one of the top 10 grossing Indian films in China. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, a 2017 Telugu-language action film, is ranked 10th, with Chinese box office receipts of around 890 million rupees.
Maharaja, which revolves around a barber’s search for his missing daughter, is also the first Indian production to be screened in Chinese theatres after the two countries reached a deal in October to resolve their four-year military stand-off. Ties had plunged following a deadly clash between their troops along their disputed Himalayan border in June 2020.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first formal talks in five years in October in the Russian city of Kazan, another sign that ties between the two countries are finally on the mend.
Indian films were blocked from the Chinese market after the 2020 clash as both countries engaged in tit-for-tat restrictive trade measures.
Gradually, however, they were let back in, with Chhichhore, a Bollywood comedy drama, hitting Chinese screens in January 2022 and becoming the first Indian film to be released in China since the dispute.
At least two other Indian films – Drishyam (a Bollywood crime thriller) and Kanaa (a Tamil sports drama) – have since been released in Chinese theatres, but enjoyed limited success.
Now Maharaja’s encouraging performance has focused attention on the Chinese market, whose estimated 86,000 screens are a big draw for film-makers from around the world, including India, where the number of cinema screens is estimated to be around 10,000.
Chief executive Zhang Yi of iiMedia, a research consultancy in China’s southern Guangdong province, told The Straits Times that China remains an “attractive market for foreign films, given the high number of cinemas in the country and its huge middle class”.
In recent years, China has established itself as the largest overseas market for Bollywood, giving the thumbs up to hits like Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015; US$46.6 million or S$62.8 million), Secret Superstar (2017; US$124.4 million) and Andhadhun (2018; US$47.9 million).
Komal Nahta, a Mumbai-based film trade analyst, said any Indian film-maker with a film that could potentially become a hit in China would “run towards the (Chinese) market” because of its sheer size.
“If the film clicks, then we know the sky’s the limit for the China market,” he told ST. “In China, a film could earn more than what it has earned in the entire overseas market put together.”
But competition is tough in China, where strict censorship and protectionist policies limit the release of foreign films each year. A total of 84 imported films, including 28 Hollywood movies, were released in the country in 2023.
According to Zhang, foreign films will have to also work harder, compared with earlier years when China’s film industry was less developed, to draw Chinese moviegoers as domestic movies, particularly in genres such as science fiction, fantasy and animation, are fast catching up with international standards.
Nevertheless, Indian film-makers are betting on their films’ emotional plots and cultural affinity to strike a chord with Chinese audiences, and bring them lucrative results.
For instance, the 2016 Bollywood hit Dangal, a biographical sports drama based on the struggle of two women wrestlers and their father-cum-coach, earned more than twice in China (US$193 million) what it did in India, and its Chinese box office receipts accounted for over half of its global earnings (US$303.72 million).
Dangal is ranked among the 20 top-grossing foreign films in China, a list that is otherwise dominated by Hollywood imports such as Avengers: Endgame and The Fate Of The Furious.
At least two other Indian films are lined up for release on the mainland.
One of them is 12th Fail – a Bollywood film that details the struggle of a man who overcomes extreme poverty to pass one of the world’s toughest examinations and become an Indian police officer. More than a million candidates sit the three-stage Civil Services Examination in India each year, but fewer than 1 per cent of them make the final cut.
In January, the film played at the Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau. Its maker Vidhu Vinod Chopra told film trade magazine Variety in April that “we are releasing in China in a big way this year”.
Another Bollywood film, Laapataa Ladies, which was screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival in June, is also set for release in China. The marriage mix-up comedy is India’s entry for the Best International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards in March 2025.
Indian cinema has been a fixture in China for more than 70 years, with the 1951 Bollywood crime drama Awaara still popular with older Chinese generations.
Zhang said the Chinese have long found India a “mysterious place”, given that the country features strongly in Journey To The West, a Chinese classic novel that describes the arduous journey of a revered monk together with his disciples, including the famous Sun Wukong, to obtain religious scriptures.
Yanyan Hong, a doctoral scholar at The University of Adelaide in Australia who has researched the popularity of Indian films in China, said Indian films resonate with Chinese audiences because they blend universal themes with emotionally rich narratives.
“Films like Dangal and Bajrangi Bhaijaan focus on family bonds, personal struggles and social issues – topics that strongly resonate in China, where family values and social narratives hold deep cultural significance,” she told ST.
Zhang, who had watched Maharaja, added that the film has a “well-balanced plot that combines various elements such as suspense, comedy and action”.
He pointed out that films from India also have had to rely on strong storylines to stand out from the competition in China “as their promotion budget is not as strong compared with Hollywood blockbusters”.
With bilateral ties now improving – the Chinese embassy even feted Maharaja’s success in China on its X account recently – mainland audiences could soon be enjoying more Indian films.
“It’s definitely a tricky yet important moment,” said Hong. “Maharaja represents another attempt by Indian cinema to step into a space where both nations are cautiously rebuilding ties post-2020.”
Success for Indian films in China will depend on several factors, according to Ms Hong. These include creating stories that resonate culturally, effective promotion and reducing the gap between their releases in India and China, besides improved diplomatic relations between the two countries.
She added: “But one thing is clear: If the story is good, Chinese moviegoers are open to embracing Indian cinema again. They’ve done it before, and they can do it again!”
Additional reporting by Aw Cheng Wei in Chongqing. - THE STRAITS TIMES/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
