The Buddha has smiled: CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA

Who would have thought that it would take 1400 years, after Lord Buddha passed away to bring into distinct reality the organic links that India and China had between themselves, common thread being religion. Buddhism, which originated in India, has more followers in China than in India, and this could be the reason why CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA is the first film which has been accorded the permission to be shot on the ramparts of the Great Wall of China.

CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA though is a film that has been situated in the modern context could pave the way for more such films that could be based on the historical linkages between the two countries. After all, in the time of antiquity there were travelers who used to come to India and the foremost being Fa–Hien and Hieun Tsang.


Jet Li and Akshay Kumar can form a pair as Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker through their RUMBLE IN THE BRAWN Series have done it. The advantage of this combination lies in the fact that it would provide with an opportunity to shoot on two different locations of as enormous proportions as China and India. Jet Li has already demonstrated what USP is created when you are able to reveal to the world the integral part of the ancient culture, which he did with panache with his series of ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, which was based on the opium war that happened in the early 18th century between China and the Britishers.

The advantage of antiquity that both India and China possess provides both of the countries to create a unique content that could make the world sit up and take notice. Oriental after all is still a mystique.

As far as the world of Hindi cinema is concerned, Hindi cinema had already taken an initiative to create a cinematic experience detailing the organic links between India and China through the epochal film made by V. Shantaram DR. KOTNIS KI AMAR KAHANI. The Indo–China war of 1962 changed the portrayal of the Chinese characters in the Hindi films and they started appearing more as a caricature or in the form of villains.

Dev Anand had used Chinese characters on a regular basis in his films that was more of a sidekick, but this character was a regular fixture in the black and white era of all the films made by Dev Anand. In fact it was Dev Anand who had the courage to shoot a film in Sikkim when it was still a matter of dispute between India and China and surprisingly enough though the back drop had a Chinese touch, the villain was not a Chinese character.

So after a long time when China is going to reveal itself on the Indian silver screen in the form of CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, it is in the fitness of the things that an encore of the same also is done. May be, Dev Anand would take the cue as he has had the penchant of bringing quaint locales on to the Indian screen, apart from Akshay doing it.

At least on the silver screen, Hindi –Chini, are converging towards the creed of being Bhai–Bhai.