China has increased the quota of Indian films to be screened in theatres here from two to four after joint productions, "Kung Fu Yoga" and "Buddies In India" fared well notching up good box office collection during the on going Chinese New Year. "China this year has agreed to give permit to four Indian films," Prasad Shetty, partner of Strategic Alliance a Chinese firm promoting Indian films told PTI here.
China annually permits 34 foreign films to be screened out of which Indian quota was fixed for two for several years. The quota has been increased to four. Most of the quota goes to Hollywood movies. "The quota has been increased as part of commercial requirement as Indian films have been doing well," Shetty said.
Foreign film in China can not be directly released without the permission of the government film agencies. There is interest among Indian film producers to release in Chinese market as some of the Indian films like "PK" have done well. "PK" grossed 100 million yuan. Aamir Khan's "Dangal" and "Bahubali-2" are expected to be released in the next few months while two other films will be decided later, Shetty said.
The increase in the quota for India came as the two countries have stepped up joint productions after Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's visit to China in 2015. Shetty said the films which were released in about 6000 screens all over the China grossed about 300 million yuan around USD 48 million. With the holidays lasting up to Feb 2, the they were expected to gross over 500 million yuan each, Shetty said. Filmmakers Kabir Khan and Sidharth Anand will also be directing two India-China joint productions this year.
