Chinese reject Indian VFX-driven blockbuster films

With big failure of “2.0” and “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” in China, Chinese have given us the message that they don’t want Indian FX-driven spectacular films; instead they are happy with content-rich Indian films.

Two of India’s biggest blockbusters have ended up as disasters in China, in what could be a serious setback to mainstream cinema’s ongoing attempt to foray that market.

Shankar directed “2.0” (Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar) and Rajamouli directed “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” were huge blockbusters in India, and while the makers were hoping for the movies to do well in China, the movies have ended up as disasters at the Chinese Box Office.

“Both these films have under-performed despite getting a big push before their Chinese releases. The stories did not resonate with the Chinese audience. Both films had decent starts at the box-office, proving that there was an initial curiosity. But the interest level dwindled thereafter, as the local audience in China couldn’t connect with the storylines,” says Trade insider Girish Johar.

In the past, several Indians films have done exceedingly well in the Chinese market. Films like “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, “Dangal”, “AndhaDhun”, “Secret Superstar”, “Hindi Medium”, “3-Idiots” did very good business in China, making Indian studios feel that a new market had opened up for mainstream Indian movies.

However, with the failure of 2.0 and “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion”, the lesson learnt is clear; you cannot impress the Chinese audience with Indian FX-driven spectacular films. Not only are Indian films much below Hollywood films (in VFX standards), they fall short of the standards set by Chinese films as well.

Read: Bollywood Scenes that Used VFX Effects, and Were Not Actually Shot.

It looks, right now, the Chinese audience prefer content-rich Bollywood films, be it family dramas, suspense thrillers, and pure entertainers.

Read: Bollywood films shot in China