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Bollywood enters China to slay trade deficit; Dhoom-3’s mega release part of plan
The B'wood solution to trade deficit, ministry officials feel, will have a good start with a 200-screen release of Aamir Khan-starrer Dhoom 3 in China on July 26.
NEW DELHI: No point only making a song and dance about India's large trade deficit with China — $35 billion in 2013-14, up from just $1.08 billion in 2001-02 — why not sell more of India's songs and dances to try and reduce the trade gap.![bollywood-enters-china-to-slay-trade-deficit-dhoom-3s-mega-release-part-of-plan.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Feconomictimes.indiatimes.com%2Fthumb%2Fmsid-36014263%2Cwidth-310%2Cresizemode-4%2Fbollywood-enters-china-to-slay-trade-deficit-dhoom-3s-mega-release-part-of-plan.jpg&hash=5bc08b5e251bcd1957b06c4674ff5775)
The B'wood solution to trade deficit, ministry officials feel, will have a good start with a 200-screen release of Aamir Khan-starrer Dhoom 3 in China on July 26.
The commerce ministry is spearheading this effort to sell more Bollywood hits to China, and to do that it is working with China's official state film importer, China Film Group Corporation.
The Bollywood solution to trade deficit, ministry officials feel, will have a good start with a 200-screen release of Aamir Khanstarrer Dhoom 3 in China on July 26. The movie grossed Rs 500 crore in India, and much hope is pinned on it creating a big market for Indian movies in China.
Bid to boost services eExports to China
China is slated to become the world's largest movie market next year, displacing the US. Selling films will boost India's service exports to China — Sino-Indian services trade is only around $1 billion now, and is set to double next year.
China currently agrees to buy five films from India annually. But India hasn't sold that many per year. Last year, China imported more films (80) globally than its WTO commitment (34). So, Indian officials are hopeful "right films" will get Chinese officials interested.
Kangana Ranaut-starrer Queen and Farhan Akhtar's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag were shown to a select audience in China last week. Indian officials feel these are two films that China can be persuaded to import as well.
"We will line up a range of films for the president of China Film Group Corporation (CFGC) to choose from, who will visit India in October. Our assessment is they are willing to take 2-3 films from India this time. We will offer Queen and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag among others for a commercial release in China," said a commerce department official. Only state-owned CFGC is authorised to import foreign films into China.
Meetings with leading film production houses, Viacom18, Zee, Eros International and Reliance Entertainment have already been lined up for the CFGC official.
China follows three criteria for movie selection: technology, content and culture. So a foreign film is screened if it is "technologically sound", has "good content" and represents a "different culture".
The commerce ministry is also jointly commissioning a study with the Indian film industry to understand the tastes and trends of the Chinese film industry, and offer films "more suitable for the audience there", the official quoted earlier said.
Bollywood productions Veer, Krrish and My Name is Khan were screened in China, but did not get a good response from the audience. "We need to see movies from the Chinese context. We will offer films that will meet the requirements of the Chinese market," said the official.
Foreign film sales constitute only 15% of China's film market, and of that small proportion most are Hollywood films. Non-Hollywood foreign films compete for only around 1.5% of China's vast film market. Last week, a delegation from India led by CII, along with government officials, visited China to enhance the two-way services trade.
Representatives from entertainment companies — including Viacom18, Eros International and Zee Entertainment were a part of it.
Source:- Bollywood enters China to slay trade deficit; Dhoom-3’s mega release part of plan - The Economic Times