Baahubali 2 is not over 100 million. Is the Indian film cold or visible？
Special feature of 1905 film network Since Wrestle! After Dad won nearly 1.3 billion box office in China, Indian movies became a complete hit in China!
Previously, no more than 10 Indian films were introduced during the period of 2010 -2017, but only four films were released in the first half of 2018.
The Indian blockbuster "King Bahobali 2: The End" being released is the fourth Indian film released in 2018. The film is based on Indian myths and legends and was once recommended by many domestic media.
The reason is very simple. Because of its high market performance, it was once called "Indian version of Wolf Warriors 2". Up to now, the cumulative box office of the film in the world has exceeded 16 billion rupees (about 1.7 billion yuan), which is the highest box office film in the world in the history of Indian film.
In addition, when baahubali 2 was released in North America, there were only 405 cinemas. However, its first weekend box office surpassed Hollywood fantasy blockbusters such as Beauty and the Beast, earning $10.13 million, setting a record for the highest opening box office of Indian films in the North American market.
However, baahubali 2 seems to be somewhat "unaccustomed" in the domestic market. After 6 days of release, the box office accumulated 62.512 million.
In contrast, the other three films released this year, the overall box office exceeded 200 million, "Mysterious Superstar" is under the market appeal of Aamir Hussain Khan, with a total box office of 746 million.
Among the three films, Uncle Monkey of Little Loli took the longest time to break 100 million yuan. According to the records of Cat’s Eye Professional Edition, it took 6 days and 14: 16, and finally the box office accumulated 285 million yuan.
In fact, Indian movies can be divided into two kinds in concept, one is "social film", such as "Wrestle!" Films such as "Dad" and "The Starting Line" belong to this category, and most of these films reflect the local social customs in India. The other is a "myth film", and the baahubali series is a typical representative.
The former is mostly produced by Bollywood, which is the most familiar type in China. So many people directly refer to Indian movies as Bollywood movies, but this is not an accurate name.
The word "Bollywood" is a combination of "Hollywood" and the first letter of Mumbai’s old English name "Bombay". At first, it refers to the film production base in Mumbai, while "Bollywood film" refers to Hindi films produced here.
Indian film industry is composed of Hindi films, Tamil films, Telugu films and other production bases. After the rise in the 1920s and 1930s, the brief crisis during World War II, the post-war prosperity, the depression in the 1980s and the resurgence in the 1990s, it has exerted great influence on the culture of the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and even the whole world.
King Bahobali 2: The End is a typical Telugu film. In fact, in 2016, King Bahobali: The Beginning was introduced to China. Unfortunately, Indian films did not cause enough sensation in China at that time, and finally only accumulated 7.496 million box office.
So, what is the "cold weather" of baahubali 2 this time? In Xiao Dianjun’s view, perhaps content resonance has become the biggest problem.
From the hot "Wrestle! Dad, India’s "social film" has always been centered on the market and the audience, starting from the Indian social level, telling the film story through "Indian humor", presenting social problems in a relatively relaxed atmosphere, so that the audience can have time to sink down and think after watching the movie.
This kind of thinking cleverly circumvents the "preaching", and the whole does not leave too much blank space. Everything goes straight to the audience’s heart, so that the audience can directly think about the social proposition.
In fact, the surface of Indian films is very consistent, and the narrative is not reversed, and it is straightforward. At the same time, using sensational techniques to a certain extent seems to be a routine, but this routine does not lose sincerity.
When Aamir Hussain Khan once shared his creative experience, he said, "There is no trick, just because we are closer to the audience."
The national conditions of China and India are close, and some emotional expressions are similar, so let’s wrestle! Dad, The Starting Line, Mysterious Superstar and other films can all be successful in China.
"Wrestle! Although Dad is packaged with sports as the theme, its core goes straight to the Indian social phenomenon of son preference.
"Mysterious Superstar" is a musical theme as a coat, and the story directly hits the phenomenon that women are backward in Indian society.
The two films adopted the popular form, but in the end, they both showed the rise of women’s rights at present, which can make many viewers get some empathy.
"The Starting Line" is even more straightforward, directly through a bunch of stories of rich couples trying their best to win at the starting line for their daughters, pretending to be poor and pretending to be rich, and making all kinds of jokes. The simple story can also touch the soft spot of many parents in China who want their children to be successful and their daughters to be successful.
Aamir Hussain Khan once said, "Film is not only an entertaining expression, but also a critical tool for social irrationality."
This is also the fate of India’s "social film". On the other hand, King Bahobali 2: The End, as an Indian "myth film", is in a high-energy plot.
It can be said that an open life needs no explanation.
The mode of baahubali series is somewhat similar to Hollywood superhero movies, and the protagonist finally becomes a "national idol". Moreover, the film is completely in the crazy high of "walking the kidney" and can directly touch most men in India. After all, in India today, male chauvinism is still very obvious.
At the same time, we can’t ignore the fact that India is a religious country. When we meet a religious film like baahubali series, we will instinctively vote for this kind of film. Moreover, many overseas countries have an Indian immigration base. Therefore, this kind of religious sentiment has also helped the film market.
Therefore, even with similar cultural backgrounds, it is difficult for such works to resonate with Chinese.
At least four Indian films will be introduced in the next few months. "Pad Man" and "Toilet Hero" have been confirmed to be bought by China, and they are ready to be released at an alternative time.
The prototype of Pad Man is Arunachalam Muruganantham, an Indian entrepreneur who invented a low-cost sanitary napkin production machine, which brought changes to the concept of menstrual hygiene in rural India.
"Toilet Hero" is also adapted from a true story, discussing the phenomenon that rural families in India generally have no toilets and women have to go to the toilet in the wild.
At the same time, the two films focus on women’s issues in India.But in the future, we still need to wait and see whether these two typical "social films" can explode in the domestic market again. However, judging from the current market performance, Indian "social films" have gradually gained a foothold in the China market. However, there may still be a long way to go to truly achieve the Indian film fire.