China is getting ready for Akshay Kumar! Or rather, the Bollywood superstar’s considerable fan following among Chinese women is excitedly looking forward to the release of his hit social drama PadMan on December 14 there. The film will release along with the Hollywood thriller Searching.
There is a reason why Akshay is popular among Chinese women. Till June, he was more or less an unknown face there. None of the actor’s films had been screened in that country before. Then Akshay made an impressive debut in the China market with his satirical comedy-drama Toilet: Ek Prem Katha in June. And the film on sanitary hygiene, which was titled Toilet Hero for Chinese audiences, struck a chord in people and was embraced warmly by women in particular.
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A Chinese poster of PadMan[/caption]
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The reason being, Toilet Hero was an unusual love story in which a simple man defies the orthodox local government in his village and challenges societal norms by constructing a toilet in his front yard for his educated wife. The film had an opening weekend of Rs. 61.04 crore, more than Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Rs. 55 crore), and Aamir Khan’s PK and Dhoom 3 (Rs. 36.25 crore and Rs. 8.11 crore respectively). Thrilled, Akshay tweeted, “Thank you audiences in China for your appreciation for Toilet Hero. Delighted to receive so much love.”
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Akshay Kumar ft. Chinese poster of PadMan[/caption]
Chinese trade sources, amazed by the unpredictable box office response to Akshay’s Toilet Hero, are now positively looking forward to PadMan’s release. Again, the film is an extraordinary love story about a villager who this time sets out to make affordable sanitary napkins for the love of his wife. The social drama based on a woman-centric theme is sure to appeal to the sensibilities of Akshay’s growing female fan following in that country, Chinese trade experts believe. Besides which, Akshay is now a known face in that country.
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Another poster for the Chinese version of PadMan[/caption]
Incidentally, the R. Balki-directed PadMan will be the ninth Indian film releasing in China in 2018. Before it, the Amitabh Bachchan-Rishi Kapoor comedy-drama 102 Not Out will release on November 30. Between 2010 and 2017, China had just eight Indian films. This year it saw the releases of Secret Superstar (January 19), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (March 2), Hindi Medium (April 4), Baahubali: The Conclusion (May 4), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (June 8), Sultan (August 31) and Hichki (October 12). Chinese distributors wanted to show Thugs of Hindostan this year too. But the dismal box-office performance of the film in India saw its Chinese release being pushed to 2019. Gavin Feng, Chinese box-office tracker and industry analyst, said the announcement of PadMan’s release had nothing to do with Thugs of Hindostan.
