Special feature of 1905 film network At the end of 2018, Aamir Hussain Khan, who has a high box office work and high popularity in China, came to China again. During Christmas, the Indian actor with his own fan group participated in many activities, talked with celebrities and promoted his upcoming new work.
Aamir Hussain Khan promotes "Indian Mob" in China.
This film, with a total production cost of 300 million RMB, only received 150 million RMB in India, which is equivalent to losing the production cost of one film. In China, Aamir Hussain Khan, as a guarantee of conscience, also failed, with a box office of only 61.929 million.
It is predicted that in 2019, the "Indian fever" of China’s imported films will usher in a reshuffle. In 2018, the grand occasion of introducing 10 films a year may be difficult to reproduce.
In 2017, only one film was introduced to China, which earned nearly RMB 1.3 billion at the box office, thus forming an Indian film craze from the audience to the filmmakers.
However, it is not difficult to see from the above table that the audience’s enthusiasm for Indian films has almost formed a similar trajectory with the release time. The later the release time is, the box office will hardly reach the threshold of over 100 million.
In 2019, the first one to enter the mainland market was not officially released until April 3. Prior to this, Indian films had been in a vacuum in China for three months.
Compared with the grand occasion that three films were introduced in four months last year, and the total box office exceeded 1.2 billion yuan, the heat decline was indeed very obvious.
And a series of movies, such as Above the Clouds and Bollywood Robot 2.0, have been introduced, but they are still in a wait-and-see state.
At present, there are only movies scheduled. Previously, it was selected to be released on March 22, but now it has been changed to May 10. And it will be released in India for two years before it will meet the audience.
Revenge of a Mother has been rescheduled to May 10th.
However, two films, Brother Asin’s Fantastic Journey and Elopement to China, which were announced to co-produce with India, have not been heard from so far, long after the scheduled release in 2017.
In the second half of 2018, industry observers have begun to predict that the market performance of Indian films in China will usher in a turning point, when the copyright fees of Indian high-quality films have soared tenfold to millions of dollars and only four of the 10 imported films have exceeded 100 million yuan.
Zhang Jin, the introduced CEO of Joy Pictures, once said: "The popularity of Indian batch films in the mainland market is only an individual phenomenon and does not have universal significance."
However, most Indian films introduced into China will emphasize the novelty and exotic feeling brought by the word "India" before their release.
For example, the main theme is the Indian epic legend, the highest cost of Indian film history and another Indian film.
"Little Lori’s Uncle Monkey" is close to "Wrestling! Dad, and released a video of Aamir Hussain Khan crying to recommend the film.
Aamir Hussain Khan recommended "Uncle Monkey of Little Loli" in tears.
It was dubbed the "Indian God Film", and the propaganda keywords included the social status of Indian women.
Similar national conditions, as well as the attention of Indian films introduced to the mainland to social issues, have made these films gain a lot of box office. However, in the second half of the year, when the films are still focusing on elements such as "Indian customs" and "social problems", they have lost their popularity in the first half of the year.
"The logic of publicity is to say what is most attractive and attractive enough for the audience to pay the bill." Xiaowen, a film industry practitioner and an Indian film fan, said this.
For those who have just experienced Wrestling! The China audience of "Dad", the word "India", may be the magic password to be attracted and enter the cinema.
When we mentioned that selling Indian elements directly in propaganda has failed to arouse the interest of ordinary audiences, Xiaowen said: "Just like when Hollywood blockbusters are famous, everyone calls Hollywood films good, and Hollywood is not new after a long time. There are all good and bad films, and there is nothing special to point out, so it is bound to emphasize the film itself, rather than sticking to everyone’s customary impression."
After the Indian film "fever", what the audience wants to see is actually the same as that of other countries’ films.Andhadhun, which focuses on suspense, currently has a box office of over 70 million. The ticketing platform predicted it, and finally it fell to 319 million yuan.
Referring to Andhadhun, Xiaowen said that the logic of the ordinary audience now is:"I don’t care which country this is from, I just want to read the story."
This is also the propaganda strategy of Andhadhun at present. Looking through the propaganda manuscripts, Xiao Dianjun found that among the eight manuscripts appearing on the ticketing platform, only one title mentioned the word "India", while other manuscripts featured elements such as "brain burning" and "reversal". The propaganda of more than 50 reversals has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Part of the draft of Andhadhun before its release.
Lin Yuyu, the importer of Andhadhun and the head of TMP China, said to Xiao Dianjun: "The most prominent label of Andhadhun is not Indian, but excellent quality, numerous reversals and unpredictable endings. The audience always pays attention to the film itself, not the country. A whole process of’ no urine spot’’The film will be loved by the audience."In her view, this film is a kind of acme of genre film.
When Xiao Dianjun mentioned the audience’s changes in the taste of Indian movies, Lin Jingyu said that when making the introduction, the country was never used as a measure. However, due to the policy and the output of films in overseas markets, small country films have always been more challenging for importers.
"Andhadhun" stills
But this is not the first time that TMP has participated in the introduction of Indian films. In the Indian film boom in 2018, TMP also brought "Toilet Hero". After the comparison of the two introductions, it is obvious that the filmmakers have made adjustments in the publicity of Andhadhun.
And revenge of a mother, scheduled for May 10th, also has obvious changes in propaganda strategy. As early as last year, when the introduction of the wind was released, the main theme of this film was still"The first film in the history of Indian film for women", the heroineSrideviAlso was crowned with the title of "Female Aamir Hussain Khan".
However, when the film was first announced on March 22nd, the main element in the publicity manuscript became "revenge", the Indian style was reduced, the film was called "revenge film for high-energy women", and the title of Sridevi was changed to "Queen Bollywood".
Adjustment of Propaganda Strategy of Revenge of a Mother
Indian films have changed from a purely exotic aesthetic to a regular genre film that focuses on themes and types. In less than a year, it is rare to see such a propaganda model as "Indian God Film".
At present, however, in the market of batch films, the wind and water turn around. Japanese movies have suddenly become the passion of filmmakers.
When the reserves of these Indian films are digested by the market at present, the magic of "Indian god films" may be truly detected. Whether there will be another grand occasion of 10 movies a year, and how many wonders can reach the box office of more than 500 million, all of which need to be tested by the market again after Indian films are disenchanted in the mainland.
