Aamir Khan calls for more creative collaboration with China at WAVES Summit

Business Standard

02-05-2025

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan calls for deeper collaboration between Indian and Chinese creative communities at the WAVES Summit 2025, emphasizing shared cultural values and storytelling
New Delhi
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan has called for greater collaboration between Indian and Chinese creative communities, highlighting the cultural similarities between the two nations.
At the WAVES Summit 2025 being held in Mumbai, Khan said that filmmakers and writers from both countries should join hands to tell stories that emotionally resonate with audiences on both sides.
Audiences react the same way
Khan, whose films 3 Idiots and Dangal have been outsize hits in China, made the comments during a panel titled 'Indian Cinema, Oriental Look' at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.
"Audiences in China, the cultural flavours in China, and the emotions of people in China are similar to the emotions of Indians. So, the Chinese audience reacts similarly to content in the way Indians do. I was watching a number of my films in China, and the Chinese audience reacting to 'Dangal' is no different from the Indian audience. The reaction was identical," he was reported as saying by news agency PTI.
Creative exchange, not just market strategy
Khan emphasised that any partnership should grow naturally out of shared creative interest, not just market demand.
"It has to be an organic process... It can come from an Indian or Chinese writer. Thematically, it should be something that connects the two," he said, adding that simply casting stars from each other's country isn't enough.
"That doesn't excite me, the story has to excite," he said, calling a collaboration with China a "win-win".
"I've healthy relations with the creative community in China. They are doing outstanding work there," Khan added.
Producer Prasad Shetty on common cultural ground
China-based Indian-origin producer Prasad Shetty echoed Aamir's views, pointing out how Indian stories with authentic cultural roots resonate strongly with Chinese viewers.
"There isn't much difference between Indian and Chinese culture... There's no requirement to find a special formula to crack the market," he noted.
He recalled how the film 'PK' deeply moved one of his Chinese colleagues, reinforcing the emotional alignment between audiences in both countries.
Hong Kong filmmakers share personal connections
Acclaimed Hong Kong director Peter Ho-Sun Chan spoke fondly of his early exposure to Indian culture while growing up in Thailand.
"Half of my classroom was Indians. I would eat their lunchboxes — aloo paratha became my favourite," he said, adding that he still asks for it whenever he's in India.
Chan also praised Indian cinema's evolution and said it's time to think beyond casting exchanges. "It is time we made films for the world... not just Bollywood. We should create local stories with global impact."
A longstanding bond with India
Director Stanley Tong, best known for action films starring Jackie Chan, spoke of his lifelong admiration for India — from the Taj Mahal to martial arts like Kalaripayattu. In fact, he even wove elements of Indian martial traditions into his 2005 movie 'The Myth', starring Jackie Chan.
"Indian films are about family values, love, and social issues, all of which resonate with the Chinese audience," he said. Having travelled extensively across India since 1993, Tong revealed that he and Khan have also discussed co-production ideas.