Aamir Khan's Dangal is creating a storm at the Chinese box office. The 2016 blockbuster has become the first Indian film in China to gross one billion RMB (Chinese Yuan).
The biopic of former wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, crossed the $150 million mark at the China box office. The film which released in over 7,000 screens in China, has so far amassed $151.89 million (approximately Rs1,010 crore at the current exchange rate) in China, as reported by a Chinese box office portal entgroup.cn.
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Dangal had released in China on 5 May and had topped the Chinese domestic box office for a few weeks before being displaced by Hollywood film Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge that released in China and worldwide on 26 May. The fifth film in the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise has so far amassed $109.99 million (approximately Rs731 crore) in China.
"While we were hoping that Dangal connects with the people of China, not in our wildest dreams did we think that this is the kind of connect we would have. It was unprecedented. We are pleasantly surprised. The reason it has become so huge in China, according to me, is that they connected on an emotional level with the story, the characters and the moments," Khan told news agency IANS.
Dangal had grossed overs Rs1,600 crore worldwide with the India nett collections amounting to Rs375 crore. This was beaten by the Hindi version of SS Rajamouli's period epic Baahubali 2: The Conclusion which is now nearing Rs500 crore.
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