Aamir Khan’s Dangal is enjoying a phenomenal run at the Chinese Box Office. Having crossed the ineffable Rs 800 crore mark already, the film is still not showing any signs of slowing down. The wrestling drama amassed a mammoth Rs 72.6 crore in its fourth weekend in the country, taking its 24-day total to Rs 888.25 crore.
The numbers are remarkable by any standards and are testimony to the fact that the film has struck a chord with the people of China. This unprecedented run has brought Dangal’s worldwide box office gross closer to that of Baahubali 2. Both the movies have zoomed past the unimaginable Rs 1600 crore mark at the global Box Office.
When it was earlier released in India, the film was equally appreciated by the people. The love and adulation showered by the Indian audience on the Aamir-starrer are at par with that of the Chinese audience. However, the massive difference in its collections in both the countries has an altogether different story to tell. In India, Dangal had collected Rs 385 crore in its lifetime run which is less than even half of its total at the Chinese Box Office.
Also read: How does Aamir Khan feel about Box Office competition between Dangal and Baahubali 2?
There are a bunch of reasons that restricted the wrestling drama to under Rs 400 crore in India. The primary one is the difference in the number of screens in both the countries. Emphasising the need to build more infrastructure in India, distributor Akshay Rathi had told InUth, “China has approximately 38,000 screens to show films whereas in India, with almost the same size of the population, we have 8000 screens.”
So, even though people wanted to experience the film on a big screen, they couldn’t since there aren’t enough of those. So, it is those extra 30,000 screens that propelled Dangal to race way ahead at the Chinese Box Office.
Also, with a release or two every Friday in India, it is difficult for the exhibitors here to accommodate a film for long in theatres. And let’s not forget the piracy. Bollywood films have been affected by this plague since forever and with the advent of the internet, the problem has only worsened.
Also read: 4 reasons Dangal is roaring at China Box Office. And Aamir Khan is not one of them
Therefore, unless we come up with a better infrastructure for the entertainment industry in India, none of our films would be able to replicate Dangal’s Box Office run in China.
Dangal has released in China on May 5 as Shuai Jiao Baba, which means ‘Let’s Wrestle, Dad.’
