Indian drama film “Mom,” which marks the one of the final on-screen performances by actress Sridevi, is set for theatrical release in China from next month. Sridevi died in February last year, seven months’ after the India release of “Mom” in July 2017.
The film is set for release in China on March 22. It is being imported on revenue sharing terms and will partner with Sparkle Media for the Chinese outing.
“We will be giving the film as big a release as some of the bigger Bollywood films. We hope for a successful run in China especially since the audience there, we feel, will be able to relate to this powerful story of a strong female character’s journey,” a spokesman for India’s Zee Studios told Variety.
Directed by Ravi Udyawar, “Mom” is about how a girl’s life changes when she is brutally gang-raped by a group of spoiled rich students from her school. Her stepmother seeks justice and employs the help of a detective to teach the perpetrators a lesson.
The film was released in 39 territories through Zee International or its licensees. In India, “Mom” earned two National Film Awards, one for Sridevi as actress, another for its background score.
Sridevi Kapoor, best known simply as Sridevi, died age 54 in the U.A.E. as a result of accidental drowning when she lost consciousness in a hotel bathtub. She made her Bollywood debut when she was 12 in “Julie,” and gained Bollywood success after her first leading actress role in 1978’s “Solva Sawna” and 1983’s “Himmatwala.” She took a 15-year hiatus beginning in 1997, but returned in 2012 with the blockbuster “English Vinglish.”
Certain Indian films, with an emphasis on story and social content, have broken through in China to achieve unprecedented box office success. Aamir Khan-starring “Dangal” scored some $200 million at the Chinese box office. But latterly, as distributors have tested the boundaries of Chinese audience interest in Indian movies, results have sagged.