Maharaja, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Anurag Kashyap in the lead roles, is set to release in China this Friday, November 29, 2024. The Tamil suspense film will become the first Indian cinema to be screened for Chinese audiences after the normalisation of ties between the two countries following last month’s agreement to resolve the standoff in Eastern Ladakh. Maharaja has already begun pre-screenings and its release here coincides with two major competitors - Hollywood's Gladiator II and local film Her Story.
State-run Global Times reported on Tuesday that the film currently holds a high rating of 8.7/10 on Chinese movie review site Douban and is regarded as one of the highest-rated Indian films in recent years. Directed by Nithilan Swaminathan, the film also stars Mamta Mohandas and Natty Natraj. It hit the Indian screens on June 14 and was a huge hit.
Maharaja will be the first Indian film to be screened in China after both countries firmed up an agreement on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in a major breakthrough to end the over four-year border standoff.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their meeting in Kazan in Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on October 23 endorsed the agreement and issued directions to revive various bilateral dialogue mechanisms and normalise ties that were hit by a deadly military clash in 2020 at Galwan Valley.
For the unversed, Aamir Khan’s films like Three Idiots, Dangal and Secret Superstar have become a major success in China in recent years as the themes largely resonated with the Chinese audiences and earned a significant amount of revenue. China has about 86,000 theatres all over the country, the highest in the world. Chinese film critics say Maharaja too is expected to do very well.
(With PTI inputs)
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