China is proving to be a wonderland for Bollywood movies. After stupendous response received by Dangal and Secret Superstar, both starring Aamir Khan, the Dragon nation has welcomed Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan with open hearts. The Kabir Khan comedy-drama that originally released in 2015 opened to packed theatres upon its release in China on March 2, 2018. In fact, the overpouring love saw Bajrangi Bhaijaan earning a brilliant opening day box office collection, so much so that, it beat lifetime business of Aamir Khan’s 2009 film 3 Idiots in the country. With 8000 screens, Bajrangi Bhaijaan has already owned the record of being the biggest Bollywood movie release in China. Dangal and Secret Superstar released on 6000 and 5000 screens respectively.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan dubbed as Little Lolita Monkey God Uncle in China debuted at No. 6 at their box office with USD 2.48 million (Rs 16.15 crore) on its first day. The big collection despite stiff competition from native films has got Salman Khan fans and Indian cinema industry quite excited. China is proving to be a profitable market for Bollywood films with positive reception translating to good moolah. Bajrangi Bhaijaan who in its very first day not only surpassed Aamir’s 3 Idiots lifetime business of USD 2.20 million (Rs 14.35 crore) in China but also neared the opening day collection of Bollywood’s most successful film Dangal that has earned USD USD 2.49 million (Rs 16.24 crores).
Apart from Salman Khan in the lead, Bajrangi Bhaijaan has Harshaali Malhotra and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in significant roles. Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan is playing the romantic interest of Salman’s character in the movie. The story of a lost speech-impaired Pakistani girl child and her heart-warming relation with a Good Samaritan from India who has decided to reunite the girl with her family forms the crux of Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The film when released three years ago took the domestic box office by storm collecting Rs 320.34.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan has already become Salman Khan's first film to earn Rs 200 crores in international market. With the opening day's collection, the film has entered the top five list of highest-grossing Indian films with Dangal - Rs 2,122.3 crore (USD330 million), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion - Rs 1,710.66 crore (USD260 million), Secret Superstar - Rs 965 crore (USD 150 million) and PK - Rs 854 crore (USD 140 million) ahead of it. Now, with the film getting off to a great start at the China box office, it can hope to set cash registers on fire.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2018 12:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).