Indian films can benefit from China’s new window of opportunity, which will limit imports of Hollywood movies in retaliation for the escalation of US President Donald Trump’s escalation of tariff war with Beijing.
China has worked for the quota system for foreign films, and has so far given priority to American films. But this may change with the latest curb, with spaces showing 20-30 Indian movies in the country each year. Earlier this year ₹China’s 100 million has become the country’s highest-grossing Indian film in five years.
Although the Chinese market has brought huge revenues to Indian films such as PK, Dangal and Hindi Medium, this trend has lost momentum in the 2020 Galwan Valley military conflict, which has exacerbated tensions between New Delhi and Beijing. Since then, tensions between the two countries have eased, and on the roadside of Hollywood, Indian films have the opportunity to occupy a larger market share in the Chinese film market.
“While Hollywood continues to remain a big draw and may not remain completely bannered in China in the long term, Indian filmmakers will be more than happy to supply films (to fill the gap that has been created). China should be open to foreign films at this point, especially those that seem relatable to their audiences, and India is a market they would like to tap for sure,” film producer and distributor Yusuf Shaikh said. In addition, Hindi and other Indian language films are not uncommon in non-traditional overseas markets (both France or Japan).
From Hope to Hope
A senior director of a film studio earlier released the film in China, and he agreed that Indian film producers have the opportunity to step in. In addition to Maharaja, Indian champions such as Sushant Singh Rajput’s Chhichhore, Tamil Film Kanaa and Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam were released in China after the Covid-19 pandemic to fill the gap left by their local film industry.
However, these failed to be marked. “The distribution of China is indeed dispersed, with Indian producers contacting them and negotiating terms. It’s easier for producers who have a pipeline of films and can be released regularly,” the executive added.
It is certain that the Bollywood success story in China began more than a decade ago, Aamir Khan’s 2009 movie 3 idiots, which made ₹There are 160 million there. Over the years, Khan has emerged in the great attraction of neighboring countries and has followed up with the PK ( ₹123 million), dangerous ( ₹1.2 billion) and his works, the Secret Superstar (( ₹7 billion).
Other popular songs with Irrfan Khan’s Hindi medium ( ₹3 billion) and Andhadhun of Ayushmann Khurrana ( ₹3.24 million). Film trade experts say the massive number of screens helped Indian films manage impressive dramatic returns in China. Over the past few years, the country has almost increased its screen count by about 10,000. India, on the other hand, operates over 9,900 screens. In addition, the average fare in China is higher than that in India.
“Hollywood does contribute a large part of the Chinese box office, so technically there will be a slowdown (as far as new content is concerned), and distributors and cinemas will have to find new options, so there will certainly be a chance,” said Girish Johar, a filmmaker and exhibition expert.
The U.S. imposed a 245% import tax on a wide range of Chinese goods last week after Beijing imposed 125% of U.S. imports and tightened exports of rare earth metals that are crucial to high-tech and Defense Departments to resist 145% tariffs in Washington earlier this month.
