Chinese moviegoers are mostly familiar with Hollywood movies when it comes to foreign films. If they get to watch a movie that is not local or made in Hollywood, chances are there is a Chinese actor on the movie such as Jackie Chan in "Kung Fu Yoga."
But on Friday, July 22, Chinese movie fans would get to watch another Bollywood production without Jackie Chan, Fan Bingbing or other Chinese celebrities. The critically acclaimed Indian film "Baahubali: The Beginning" would be shown in some cinemas in China, reported Chinadaily.
It is a feat for the film by S.S. Rajamouli since it is the only blockbuster Indian movie given theaters in China during the very competitive summer box office season. It would be exhibited in 2-D and Dmax formats.
Produced at a cost of $18 million, or 120 crore, the movie was released globally on July 10, 2015 and broke records as the highest-grossing Indian movie in the country and third highest-grossing Indian film globally by grossing 600 crore or $89 million. There are two versions of the film, one is in Telugu and the other in Tamil languages.
To cater to Chinese audience, some streaming sites in China released high-quality subtitled versions of “Baahubali: The Beginning” for their subscribers. The original Indian version of 159 minutes was reedited into 129 minutes for the Chinese viewers who are not used to intermission breaks, unlike Indian movie fans.
Just to indicate the high quality of the Indian film, on iMDb, it got 8.5 scores out of 10, while on Rotten Tomatoes, 88 percent of the audience appreciated the epic Indian movie.
The cast is led by Indian actors Prabhas and Rana Daggubati. The story revolved around a banished prince who battles a feuding tyrant. The movie used over 1,000 ancient Indian costumes and thousands of weapons, while the visual effects were handled by 600 designers from 16 international studios.