How Bollywood May End Up As An Unlikely Beneficiary Of The US-China Trade War

Even as the signs of an escalating trade war cloud United States (US) - China relations, Chinese experts feel that Bollywood can gain significant mileage from the dispute, Indian Express has reported.

“Given the US-China trade friction and Chinese audience’s aesthetic fatigue towards American films, the Indian film industry will have greater opportunities,” said Tian Guangqiang, an assistant research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China houses the second biggest movie industry in the world after US with total 2017 box office collection topping Rs 58,000 crore almost five times the Indian box office collection in the same year. It also has 41,000 movie screens, almost twice the Indian figure.

46 per cent of the Chinese movie revenue however went to foreign made films, presenting a huge opportunity for Indian producers. Only eight Indian movies were released in China from 2016 to 2018 as opposed to 156 movies from the US.

Tian also suggested co-productions as a way for Indian movies to gain leeway in the Chinese industry.

Since the last three years, Indian movies have managed to earn close to Rs 2800 crore through Chinese releases. Of this, Aamir Khan’s Dangal raked in Rs 1300 crore making it the highest grossing Hindi movie in China.