Girl power

Joint production packs a punch as heroine takes on the baddies, Xu Fan reports.

Nearly half a century after kung fu legend Bruce Lee departed this world, an upcoming movie, inspired by his last blockbuster, Enter the Dragon, has seen Chinese and Indian filmmakers join together to pay tribute to his legacy.

Ladki: Enter the Girl Dragon, scheduled to open domestically and in India in summer, is the first such Sino-Indian coproduction to introduce a heroine's perspective.

Since the two countries signed a movie agreement in 2014, two coproduced blockbusters have come about: the Jackie Chan-led Kung Fu Yoga and the Wang Baoqiang flick Buddies in India, both released in 2017 and recounting the exotic adventures led by predominantly male characters.

The new movie has been shaped by Indian director Ram Gopal Varma's obsession with Lee, a legend who passed away at age 32 in 1973, but is still revered as a global icon for his unique contribution to promoting Chinese kung fu.