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INFOCUS|CHINA|CINEMA

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in China’s Soft Power Strategy

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INFOCUS|CHINA|CINEMA

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SOME CHINESE MOVIES HAVE SUCCEEDED IN THE DOMESTIC MARKET BUT HAVE FAILED TO STRIKE BIG GLOBALLY. ZHANG YIMOU’S FLOWERS OF WAR (2011), A COSTLY HISTORICAL WAR DRAMA BASED ON THE NANJING MASSACRE AND STARRING HOLLYWOOD ACTOR CHRISTIAN BALE, FAILED TO APPEASE THE GLOBAL AUDIENCE.

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INDIAN MOVIES HAVE ENJOYED HUGE POPULARITY IN CHINA. THE SONG “AWARA HOON” IS STILL HUMMED AMONG THE CHINESE. BUT THE CHARM OF INDIAN MOVIES IN CHINA IS A ONE-WAY PHENOMENON, AS CHINESE MOVIES DON’T ENJOY A SIMILAR POPULARITY IN INDIA. FKDUP RI ,QGLDQ ¿OPV ZLWK D FDSWLYH DXGLHQFH LQ &KLQD LV D RQH ZD\ SKHQRPHQRQ DV &KLQHVH PRYLHV GR QRW HQMR\ D VLPLODU SRSXODULW\ LQ ,QGLD )RU ODUJHU ,QGLDQ SXEOLF &KLQHVH PRYLH LV UHODWHG WR LFRQLF ¿JXUHV VXFK DV %UXFH /HH DQG -DFNLH &KDQ ,W LV PRUH RI PRYLHV IURP +RQJ .RQJ DQG 7DLZDQ WKDQ WKDW RI 0DLQODQG &KLQD WKDW KDYH D SRSXODU LPDJH LQ ,QGLD 7KH PRYLHV WKDW EHFDPH UHFHQWO\ SRSXODU LQ WHUPV RI &KLQHVH OLQNDJH DUH Kung Fu Panda The Last Emperor DQG Life

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Amrita Jash is a Research Scholar, at Centre for East Asian Studies (Chinese Division), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University

March 2014 India-China Chronicle |57|