Dangal continues to win China over as anti-India sentiment grows

Even as anti-India sentiment on China’s social media continues to surge in face of military standoff between the neighbours, love for Aamir Khan and his home production Dangal seems to be touching new heights with each passing day.

A report in Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post highlighted that Dangal’s rating on a popular Chinese movie review website had risen from 8.8 in May to 9.1 at present. The 9.1 rating, pointed out the English publication, is even higher than what Hollywood Blockbuster Avatar had managed.

And Chinese social media users don’t seem to be getting over the Dangal craze anytime soon.

“If the total score were 10, I would give Dangal 100,” a Zhu Ka Jing Di Guan wrote on a Chinese social media site Zhihu, reported the SCMP.

The English daily further reported that as soon as Dangal’s theatre run ended on July 4, the fan group of Aamir Khan in China, Aamir Khan FC China, uploaded a tribute video to the superstar on Youtube. The viral video garnered more than 3,25,000 views as of July 21.

It was reported earlier this month that Dangal had grossed nearly ₹1,990 crore on the Chinese box office since its release on May 5, catapulting it among top 50 highest grossing movies. The movie’s China’s collections are higher than what it managed to make in India, according to reports.

According to various accounts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit meeting between Xi Jinping and PM Narendra Modi, the Chinese premier had words of praise for the movie.

While it continues to receive adulation in China at the highest level, the movie barely caught the eye of the jury in India’s National Awards in April this year, when it just managed an award. How Aamir Khan missed out on an award despite his stellar performance became a matter of public debate in India.

However, the debate didn’t do much to help Dangal’s chances at recently held IIFA Awards, where Aamir Khan didn’t win an award either.

Hostility towards India on rise

The praise for Aamir Khan is in complete contrast to anti-India venom being spewed on Chinese social media, concerning India’s position in Doklam sector where the troops from both countries have been engaged in an almost two-month old standoff.

The SCMP reported certain reaction on Weibo, which is China’s equivalent of Twitter, to the ongoing standoff.

A post on July 18, read, “China is powerful enough to bring the US and Japan to their knees. What is India?”

“It’s time to teach India how to behave again.”