'PK', joint productions create Bollywood buzz in China

Beijing: The Chinese version of Aamir Khan's "PK" and three new India-China joint productions, including a film on the life of Chinese Buddhist scholar Xuan Zang's journey to India, is creating a lot of Bollywood buzz here.

"PK", starring Aamir as an alien, is appearing in cinemas. It is Aamir's second film to release here after "3 Idiots".

Joint productions for three films -- "Kung Fu Yoga", "Xuan Zang" (on the noted 7th century monk who travelled to India to study Buddhism) and "Danao Tianzhu" -- were finalised during last week's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here.

Directed by Hong Kong's Stanley Tong "Kung Fu Yoga" will revolves around a Chinese and and an India who team up to look for a lost treasure from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Global Times said in its write up.

In "Xuan Zang", Chinese actor Huang Xiaoming will play the lead role. The actor said they will stick closer to actual history by depicting a determined monk on a tortuous road.

"Danao Tianzhu" will be on the similar lines of China's 2012 comedy "Lost in Thailand" which became a huge box office hit.

Wang Baoqiang, one of the lead actors in "Lost in Thailand", will be directing the movie, which also includes the scriptwriters for Lost in Thailand.

Set in India, it will be interesting to see if the film kicks off a similar tourism boom to the country.

Indian films are yet to find a footing in China and in the past five years the films that have done well include "PK", "Dhoom 3", "Happy New Year", "My Name Is Khan" and "3 Idiots".