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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Despite hits, China remains difficult territory for Bollywood
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Despite hits, China remains difficult territory for Bollywood

The Chinese government limits the number of foreign films releasing in the country to 34 a year and nearly 90% of these are Hollywood productions

S.S. Rajamouli’s war spectacle ‘Baahubali’ has secured a slot among non-Chinese films permitted in the country for the year with nearly 6,000 screens.Premium
S.S. Rajamouli’s war spectacle ‘Baahubali’ has secured a slot among non-Chinese films permitted in the country for the year with nearly 6,000 screens.

New Delhi: After grossing more than 500 crore worldwide, director S.S. Rajamouli’s war spectacle Baahubali is all set for a grand release in China in May. The blockbuster that took India by storm last year has secured a slot among non-Chinese films permitted in the country for the year with nearly 6,000 screens.

“China’s theatrical market is huge and growing rapidly. So the box office potential for a film that does well is significant," said Shobu Yarlagadda, co-founder and chief executive officer at Arka Mediaworks, the company that produced the film. “We are excited that we will see a bigger release than any other Indian film released in China till date. We hope Chinese audiences enjoy the film like viewers here in India did," said Yarlagadda.

Rajamouli’s historical epic is definitely not the first film to cross over to China. Last year, Aamir Khan’s satirical comedy PK had opened to a phenomenal response making close to $21million, according to a Forbes report, and became one of the highest grossing non-English foreign films in China. Before that, Khan’s Dhoom 3 and 3 Idiots had brought in collections of $3 million and $2.2 million, respectively, in the country. Shah Rukh Khan’s Happy New Year and My Name Is Khan had performed overwhelmingly too. Going forward, Eros International is gearing up for a China release for its recent blockbuster Bajirao Mastani.

However, industry experts say the potential that China offers as a market to Indian films is restricted to big-ticket releases.

“Of course, China is a huge market for Bollywood but that only holds true for films backed by powerful studios featuring popular faces that have already done well in India so they can build on their success," said trade analyst Atul Mohan. “There are several technical hurdles even for Hollywood, the censorship norms are strict and it’s difficult to secure distribution deals unless a big studio is involved."

Why that is the case is pretty obvious. The Chinese government limits the number of foreign films releasing in the country to 34 a year and nearly 90% of these are Hollywood productions. Non-Hollywood foreign releases make up just 1.5% of the Chinese film market. “So the challenge," as Amrita Pandey, vice-president, UTV Motion Pictures, distributors of PK, said, “is first to make the cut and then making sure the film works."

For instance, UTV had planned the China release of PK about 8-9 months before the film hit theatres in India. Robust box office performance in North America and India drove the distribution deal with Huaxia Film Group, a local Chinese company, besides the fact that Aamir Khan and director Rajkumar Hirani had become household names after their previous outing 3 Idiots.

“We learnt several positive lessons from PK’s release in China," said Pandey. “One is that processes like these take time. Secondly, to leverage the popularity of the talent you have on board. And lastly, to not expect what worked in India to work in China; allow the local team to come up with changes that may resonate better with audiences there and be open to them."

More than anything else, China’s massive screen count and disposable incomes remain a lure for Indian filmmakers and studios. Analyst Mohan estimates that the second-largest market after the US offers nearly 27,000-28,000 theatres and a Bollywood film like PK typically gets 4,500-5,500 screens, which is equivalent to the widest release possible in India with the 8,000-9,000 screens we have. Besides, an average movie ticket in China costs close to 600, auguring even better for foreign film industries like Bollywood that may want to make inroads in that market.

Yet, the market is far from fully exploited. “Currently China does not contribute significantly to Bollywood film revenue but the potential is infinite given that they have over 25,000 screens," confirmed Ajit Thakur, chief executive officer, Trinity Pictures, the franchise division of Eros International.

Considering that the local government prioritizes home-grown content, one way out would be Indo-Chinese movie collaborations that can circumvent the 1.5% quota. Early last year, there were reports of the two countries coming together on a biopic on Chinese monk Hsuan Tsang. Eros International has already entered into co-production agreements with leading Chinese film companies, details of which they plan to announce soon.

“Like every other market, China is looking for good content. Within that, comedy, fantasy, period dramas and action have worked as genres in the past. Chinese markets love scale as well," said Thakur. “We are working towards expanding Bollywood’s market share in China, and our co-production initiative will help achieve this," he added.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lata Jha
"Lata writes about the media and entertainment industry for Mint, focusing on everything from traditional film and TV to newer areas like video and audio streaming services. She loves movies and spends a lot of her free time watching them, which makes her job both fun and a bit of a challenge. Lata tries to find and write about things in the entertainment world that most people don't notice, even though a lot of people in her country are really into movies and entertainment news often just talks about the glamorous side of things. "
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Published: 02 Mar 2016, 12:09 PM IST
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