Salman-Kabir
Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 2, 2017)

If the Jackie Chan-Sonu Sood-starrer Kung Fu Yoga taught Bollywood superstars anything, is that it’s a market waiting to be tapped. At close to Rs 1,200 crore in worldwide gross collections (and around Rs 950 crore domestically in China; it flopped in India), the film broke records with no major Indian actor starring. After Hrs had predicted at the time that Salman Khan-starrer Tubelight would release in the most populated country in the world.

And it’s confirmed now that China is preparing for the widest Bollywood release ever with Tubelight.

This makes sense. Chinese actress Zhu Zhu is the film’s leading lady. Obviously, Salman Khan Films has taken a call to promote their film in a big way in China. Salman is expected to tour key Chinese cities to promote the film. This, despite him having stopped doing city tours to promote films, a while back.

Tubelight director Kabir Khan concedes there are big plans for his film in China, though he isn’t willing to reveal what those plans are. “China is a huge market. The number of theatres in the country are staggering. Plus, Tubelight does have a Chinese connection, including its leading lady. We are looking at the various possibilities of how to give the film a big release in China,” he adds.