BackYash Raj to release comedy drama ‘Sui Dhaaga’ in China
The Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma-starrer had made around Rs. 80 crore when released in India in 2018.
PremiumYash Raj Films will release its comedy drama Sui Dhaaga: Made in India in China, on 31 March. The Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma-starrer had made around Rs. 80 crore when released in India in 2018.
Indian films, which stopped screening in China because of political tensions and then the pandemic, are now available in theatres across the country for movie-starved Chinese fans.
In the past few months, Sushant Singh Rajput’s Chhichhore was released, followed by Tamil film Kanaa and Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam.
These old films, already widely available on streaming platforms, are being sent to China to fill the void left by its local film industry, which has been idle of late. The Chinese film exhibition market has also suffered, with many cinemas having shut down. Indian producers spotted an opportunity even as the industry limps back to normalcy.
Releasing films in China may help Indian studios and producers in the long run, not only bolstering popularity in the neighbouring country but also making for a good opportunity to negotiate with Chinese distributors for better revenue-sharing terms. Until now, Chinese theatre owners and distributors would only pay 25% of the box office collections of an Indian film to the producers.
The Chinese government controls the country’s entertainment industry and only allows 34 international films to be screened annually—occasionally a few more. It determines release dates, advertising, and the number of theatres for screening. Trade experts said some of this may be re-negotiated as the Chinese film exhibition business recovers from the pandemic.
The Bollywood success story in China began more than a decade ago with Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots, which made ₹16 crore there.
Khan emerged as a huge draw in China, following up with PK ( ₹123 crore), Dangal ( ₹1,200 crore) and his production, Secret Superstar ( ₹700 crore). Other hits came with Irrfan Khan’s Hindi Medium ( ₹300 crore) and Ayushmann Khurrana’s Andhadhun ( ₹324 crore).
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