Indian Cinema in China

Despite things like quotas on international film imports and the censoring of certain topics making China’s cinema market difficult to enter, Indian movies (particularly Bollywood films) have started to slowly gain a foothold. Recently the releases of Indian films in China’s cinemas have slowed down. But over several years in the 2010s, Bollywood releases became a fixture of film imports. Culminating in 2017, which saw the highest box office gross for a Bollywood film in China, and 2018, which saw 10 Indian films officially released in theatres. A huge jump compared to the number of releases at the beginning of the decade. Additionally, the prominent screenings of Indian films at this year’s Shanghai Film Festival and discussions among producers seem to indicate an ongoing interest in bringing Indian films into China’s cinemas.

Chinese Audience’s Love Indian Films

Researcher Yanyan Hong found, through interviewing 32 people, 4 specific qualities made Indian (specifically Bollywood) films attractive to Chinese audiences. These included:

• The featuring of social issues that are important in both countries (in particular gender equality, women’s rights, pressure in education and patriotism) while fostering a sense that these challenges can be overcome in a way that can be ultimately uplifting.
• The appeal of stars, notably actors like Aamir Khan.
• Bollywood exhibits cultural attitudes that are seen as overlapping with the sensibilities of Chinese audiences. Such as observing traditional values and beliefs tied to cultural identity (i.e. the importance of family, uniting as a community, overlapping philosophical concepts and patriotism). As well as showcasing traditional clothing and a more reserved attitude towards kissing and nudity.
• Focus being paid to the film’s story content. Romantic musicals were not looked on favourably. However, respondents said that entertaining and emotionally engaging storylines are the root of their fondness for Indian cinema.

India’s Soft Power

The past decade has seen the reach of Indian cinema grow significantly on the world stage. With films like RRR making a significant international box office and cultural impact. It was the first Indian feature to win Best Original Song at the Oscars. This decade has also seen movies from across India’s film industries release some of their biggest international successes.

With this growing prominence India’s various film industries have begun to be seen as a form of soft power. The films promote India’s culture and values worldwide while also helping to bring revenue back to the country. It is therefore understandable why filmmakers would want access to one of the world’s biggest film markets and with the revenue sharing and flat fee models implemented by China’s film industry, it’s easy to see potentially high profits if more Indian films are screened in China’s cinemas. It also helps to act as a cultural exchange across boundaries between the two countries. Whose governments have frequently been involved in geopolitical clashes. 

The Future

It’s hard to say how the love between Chinese cinemagoers and Indian cinema will progress. Yanyan Hong’s study does present several potential problems for film exchanges between the two countries. Aside from the aforementioned censorship and quotas Hong mentioned how some of the elements presented in Indian films can feel repetitive and negative stereotypes about the country due to biased reporting have caused some audiences to hold incorrect views about India. The lack of decent translation and promotion for films, the prominence of piracy for Bollywood films potentially undercutting revenue, and clashing with Hollywood releases also act as potential challenges for the future of India-China film exchanges. Along with, of course, the impact of geopolitics.

But developments around the Shanghai Film Festival, the shifting of successful Indian films like Kalki 2898AD more towards storytelling innovation over star power, the popularity of viewing Indian films online and the hunger among Chinese audiences for films that relate to their experiences could still represent good opportunities for the future development of Indian cinema in China.

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I’ve always sought out reviews of the latest releases to help me decide on what films are worth the immediacy that a trip to the cinema elicits and which films I can happily wait to arrive on my screen at home. Most recently, this was the case for John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place; the rave reviews did not disappoint.

But what happens when the film doesn’t live up to the hype?

Ari Aster’s film Hereditary received high praise when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this year, with many critics describing it as one of the most terrifying horrors of all time. It received an 89% rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes, yet only 57% as an audience score, with some calling it the worst film they had ever seen. The stark contrast in opinion is often difficult to fathom. Perhaps it is important to consider whether it is the film that is an issue here or those providing the reviews.

A recent study by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism entitled Critic’s Choice? found that of the top 100 films of 2017, only 24% of the top critics, those featured in major publications, were female, and 11.2% were from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. It is questionable whether a critic can give a true review of a film in which a multi-cultural audience can engage with if they themselves are analysing it through a narrow lens.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group which selects the Oscar nominations, has this year extended invitations to 928 people in a bid to diversify its group of critics. Now, 38% of the Oscars’ governing body is made up of people of colour, with 49% being female. Not a moment too soon, considering there was talk of the event being boycotted due to its primarily white nominees in recent years.

The Time’s Up Now campaign recently posted on their Instagram: “When top critics deciding which movies are ‘good’ are overwhelmingly white and male, audiences aren’t getting the full picture….”  While it is vitally important for the issue of diversity in film to be addressed until it is no longer an issue, would film criticism be doing its job if it only talked about what was “good”?

Alissa Wilkinson, in her article for Vox, does not feel that it would be. She believes that critics are art makers in their own right, stating, “the art a critic makes is a review or an essay, something that is less about ‘supporting’ a movie and more about drawing on an individual’s experience with a film to make an argument about that movie. It includes evaluation of the film, but it also, done well, is a passionate argument for the importance of art itself.”

With the rise of social media and websites such as Rotten Tomatoes, anyone can now be a “critic” and due to the viral nature of the internet, these are often the first reviews that potential audiences see. However, these people are often just criticising the films they have not enjoyed, whereas a good film critic analyses and evaluates a film, discussing both the positives and negatives. Yes, it is influenced by their own experience, but the majority of critics do their job for the love of film rather than just to say what they like or don’t like at the box office at that moment in time.

Critics can offer a unique interpretation of the films they review, as can audiences who also offer their opinions, it is necessary to add diversity to those with the power to influence in order to provide audiences with a cacophony of voices to help form their own interpretation.

Also Read: Class Rules: The Representation of UK’s Social Class in Film

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