'Sanju' eyeing China release

After a good run at the Indian box office, the Fox Star Studios is now planning to release the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer "Sanju" in other Asian markets, including China.

The biographical drama based on the controversial life of actor Sanjay Dutt released in Indian on June 29 across 4,100 screens and has collected over Rs 300 crore in India, according to the film's producers.

"Many distributors in China have reached out to us. They have watched the film and there is a lot of interest in releasing it in the country. We are also looking at the muscle of Fox Star to plan and release the film in Japan, South Korea, etc," Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios, told PTI.

 

"It is all about good writing. Star power helps but the golden rule is you need to have a fantastic script and get someone who can capture the imagination. Audience will not throw money just for the sake of it. They are a reminder that good films will be accepted," Singh, who is on board as a distributor, added.

"Sanju" was co-produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and director Rajkumar Hirani.

China has emerged as a huge market for Indian films after the spectacular success of Aamir Khan's "Dangal", Salman Khan's "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and Irrfan Khan's "Hindi Medium".

Singh said it was not possible to reveal the number of screens at this point of time as they were still working on the modalities.

Fox Star is also planning the next installments of "Jolly LLB" , "Bang Bang" and "Baaghi".

"Our director Subhash Kapoor should have a script ready by the end of this month. There is a lot of work that has happened on that. With regards to 'Bang Bang' sequel, we are done with the first half, the work is on the second half.

"Also 'Baaghi 3', which is with producer Sajid Nadiadwala, will happen by 2020."

The studio is even planning to release "Jolly LLB 2", which had Akshay Kumar in the lead role, in China.

"We have buyers from China looking at the film and they have shown massive interest. There is active discussion for the release in the market there. We are hoping it will release in China before the end of this year. We will start with the release of the second part then see how it goes and take it forward from there," Singh added.