Indian thriller winning over moviegoers in China; more in the pipeline

Takings in Bollywood's top overseas market surpass a third of the film's global earnings

- Debarshi Dasgupta

NEW DELHI - 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 filmmakers are keen to break into.

Maharaja, an action thriller directed by Nithilan Saminathan and featuring Vijay Sethupathi as its lead actor, has earned more than 630 million rupees (S$10 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.

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.