It’s been a bumper year for Hindi films in China with films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), Sultan (2016), Hindi Medium (2017), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017), and Hichki (2018) all performing well at the box office this year. Now more and more production houses are choosing to release their films in the lucrative Chinese market.
Umesh Shukla’s 102 Not Out (2018), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor as father and son, is due to be released in China on 30 November. While the Indian title is a reference to the game of cricket and the age of Bachchan’s character, the Chinese title is simply ‘Dad Is 102 Years Old’. The family-drama is the first Indian release by Sony Pictures in China.
Incidentally in the film, based on a play by Saumya Joshi, Dattatraya Vakharia (Bachchan) wishes to become the oldest person on earth, a title held by a Chinese man, Ong Chong Tun Pen, who is 118 years old. Dattatraya will has to live 16 more years to break it.
102 Not Out grossed over Rs51 crore in India and is hoping for a good boost at the Chinese box office, which the recently released Hichki, starring Rani Mukerji, enjoyed. Last week’s Diwali release, Yash Raj Films’s Thugs Of Hindostan is also reportedly making its way to China in December.