Hollywood-based studio Warner Brothers is making its first foray into Bollywood with a movie called Made In China. Starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, it is the first Hindi film to be shot in China.
Akshay plays a Mumbai cook who is mistaken for a kung-fu hero and the shooting will start in January, Warner Bros said in a press statement Thursday.
According to trade magazine Variety, the film marks the start of a concerted effort by Hollywood studios to break into the Indian film market, where their films account for only eight percent of the total market.
While Nikhil Advani, of Kal Ho Naa Ho fame, will wield the megaphone, Warner Bros will distribute it worldwide. Ramesh Sippy Productions and Advani's Orion Pictures are the co-producers.
Ramesh Sippy told Variety that the venture had brought the "globalisation of Indian cinema closer to reality".
Blaise Fernandes, manager of Warner Brothers Entertainment India, said they are "excited and proud" about the project. "We will do everything in our power to make a well-crafted, popular and successful Indian film," added Fernandes.