Beijing: Aamir Khan-starrer PK is making waves at the Chinese box office by earning a record USD 13.5 million with film critics pointing out that China can learn from Bollywood about producing 'bright and thought-provoking' comedy films.
The Rajkumar Hirani-directed movie has scored 8.3 points on one of China's biggest film reviewing websites Douban since its release in China on May 22, a commentary in state run Global Times said today.
"Back in 2009, Khan's 3 Idiots became a massive success across China and caused a stir among Chinese audiences for its ironic look at India's rigid and dreary education system.
"Now, PK has created history by ranking the 70th biggest box office earner in the world last year, apparently taking the shine off the somewhat chaotic comedy market of China," the newspaper said, adding filmmakers "should learn" from PK about telling "a bright and thought-provoking comedy in an artistic way without necessarily being too cynical."
For an Indian movie to win accolades in China is very rare but the Chinese version of PK has surpassed the records of non-English foreign movies in China by posting 80 million RMB in about two weeks, Prasad Shetty, partner in Chinese firm Strategic Alliance, which promotes Indian films in China said.
The earning is four times more than any other Indian film, including Aamir's previous movie Dhoom-3, which posted about 19 million RMB, Shetty told PTI.
Its China box office collection, approximately Rs 83 crore, has already crossed US-Canada box office revenue of USD 10.6 million. The movie is likely to cross 100 million RMB as it still has 18 more days in Chinese theatres, he said.
PK has crossed a threshold in Chinese market making it even bigger than US-Canada market, which could in turn make the Indian film industry to take the Chinese market seriously, he added.
Unlike any other Indian movie PK was screened in about 5,000 screens all over China. It was expected to do well following rave reviews in Chinese film circles.
(With inputs from Agency)