Hollywood has been trying hard to find a foothold in China for quite sometime now and actor Sonu Sood says that international film studios want to work with his 'Kung Fu Yoga' co-star Jackie Chan because of his standing in the Chinese cinema market.
The 43-year-old actor, who is also the distributor of the Stanley Tong-directed film in India where he is releasing the film on 1,200 screens, says China has a great cinema loving audience.
"I was shooting with Jackie and there are couple of actors who work with him on a regular basis and they were telling me that Hollywood stars want to work with Jackie and are ready to adjust their dates and price because they know that they will have access to a big cinema audience.”
"If you are able to tap the Chinese market, you have around 43,000 screens at your disposal... Then, you can certainly hope for getting huge numbers at the box office worldwide," said Sonu.
The 'Dabangg' actor also said that collaborating with Chinese artistes and technicians is a great step in strengthening ties between the two countries.
Jackie was in India to promote the movie on January 23, and when asked how it felt bringing him in the country for a quick promotional trip, Sonu says it was quite a learning experience.
"Initially, when we were shooting in Beijing, I used to tell Jackie that we'll go to India and promote the film for 4-5 days. All those talks were on, but when the time actually came, it seemed impossible due to time constraints," Sonu added.
But the actor quips that he knew he had to give it all as he was getting one of the most loved stars in the world to India.
Sonu said, "Bringing Jackie to India was a real learning experience for me. When he finally landed, I told him, 'Please give me these ten hours of your life and you'll remember them for your life' and Jackie said, 'I'm all yours'." Sonu says that the Chinese superstar didn't even ask for a cup of coffee and started off with the promotion of the film without wasting a single minute.
"We were running from one studio to another, from one press conference to the hotel. I think those ten hours panned out exactly how we wanted.”
"Before leaving Jackie said to me that this experience was extremely special to him and he will always remember this trip to India fondly. Those few words were totally worth all the trouble that we went through," said Sonu.
On shooting action sequences with Jackie, Sonu said, "In Chinese films, the actors fight in a rhythm. It's not like our dishoom-dishoom. You have to remember that rhythm. The idea is before you land the first punch, the second one will be ready, kind of a fast dance.”
"So, when you're fighting with Jackie you have to remember two things: one, that he's Jackie Chan and two that if he hits you back you are going to have a tough time."
When asked how they have distributed the film in India, Sonu said, "We are targeting 1,200 screens, as of now. I even told Jackie that last time his film that had released in India, it was distributed to almost 450 screens. He was very excited and said 'yeah, let's do it, let's do it'." The film has received one of the biggest openings in China till date and is slated for release in India on February 3.