India, China to ink film production pact
11 Sept 2014 5:47 AM IST
The agreement between Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and TV, (SAPPRFT) was expected to be signed during Xi’s visit to India beginning September 17, officials said here.
The pact will focus on productions with joint investments and will take the cooperation between the two countries in films to a new level, Director General of Film Bureau of SAPPRFT told Indian media on Wednesday. It will help Indian movies get access to China’s market as currently very few Bollywood films are shown in theatres due to stipulation that only 34 foreign movies are allowed to be shown in China every year.
Most of the quota is grabbed by Hollywood movies. Indian officials say the joint production is one way to enter the Chinese market. Dubbing is not a problem as India is adept to dubbing into 22 Indian languages.
While ‘Awara’ and its songs were quite popular in China, recent films like ‘Three Idiots’ were a huge success as it struck a chord with the young Chinese audience. Dhoom-3, however, failed to click. SAPPRFT’s Zhang Hongsen says if a movie is made under joint production it could access both Indian and Chinese markets as a national movie enjoying all benefits.
China’s box-office market alone raked in USD 3.6 billion in 2013 and is expected to touch USD 4.5 billion this year. The big-market Hollywood films, too, are making beeline for co-Chinese productions. Zhang said, considering the money involved, the size of the Chinese film market is growing at a rate of 32 per cent an year.
Currently, China produces about 600-700 films a year of which about 60 are produced by foreigners. The country is also witnessing a rapid development of theatres. It has 22,000 digital screens all over the country. About 15 screens are added every day, said Zhang. Ninety per cent of them are 3D screens and 200 Imax theatres. Also China has 150 giant screens. Zhang said China would be the focus country at the forthcoming 46th International film festival of India to be held in Goa. The festival will have separate Chinese section.
Meanwhile, the first ever Chinese film shot in India with Sino-Indian theme will make a debut all over China. The new Chinese film ‘My amazing trip to India’, which graphically portrays the travails faced by a Chinese traveller in India is set to be released all over China in the next few months, said Zhang Jian Ya, film’s director.
The pact will focus on productions with joint investments and will take the cooperation between the two countries in films to a new level, Director General of Film Bureau of SAPPRFT told Indian media on Wednesday. It will help Indian movies get access to China’s market as currently very few Bollywood films are shown in theatres due to stipulation that only 34 foreign movies are allowed to be shown in China every year.
Most of the quota is grabbed by Hollywood movies. Indian officials say the joint production is one way to enter the Chinese market. Dubbing is not a problem as India is adept to dubbing into 22 Indian languages.
While ‘Awara’ and its songs were quite popular in China, recent films like ‘Three Idiots’ were a huge success as it struck a chord with the young Chinese audience. Dhoom-3, however, failed to click. SAPPRFT’s Zhang Hongsen says if a movie is made under joint production it could access both Indian and Chinese markets as a national movie enjoying all benefits.
China’s box-office market alone raked in USD 3.6 billion in 2013 and is expected to touch USD 4.5 billion this year. The big-market Hollywood films, too, are making beeline for co-Chinese productions. Zhang said, considering the money involved, the size of the Chinese film market is growing at a rate of 32 per cent an year.
Currently, China produces about 600-700 films a year of which about 60 are produced by foreigners. The country is also witnessing a rapid development of theatres. It has 22,000 digital screens all over the country. About 15 screens are added every day, said Zhang. Ninety per cent of them are 3D screens and 200 Imax theatres. Also China has 150 giant screens. Zhang said China would be the focus country at the forthcoming 46th International film festival of India to be held in Goa. The festival will have separate Chinese section.
Meanwhile, the first ever Chinese film shot in India with Sino-Indian theme will make a debut all over China. The new Chinese film ‘My amazing trip to India’, which graphically portrays the travails faced by a Chinese traveller in India is set to be released all over China in the next few months, said Zhang Jian Ya, film’s director.
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