Hindi film strikes emotional chord to top China box office

Over the weekend, a Hindi film was creating history in China.

Dangal, which translates to "wrestling match", has reached the top of the Chinese box office, in a first for Indian cinema. By Wednesday afternoon, the biographical film on an Indian wrestler who prepared his daughters for world-class competitions, had made 491 million yuan ($71.26 million), pushing Hollywood's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to the second slot.

The 2016 Hindi film was released on the Chinese mainland on May 5 alongside this year's Marvel sequel, a much awaited film that got its largest global share from the Chinese market. Hollywood dominates the quota-based system, through which China allows 34 foreign films for general screening each year.