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The first Hindi film to be shot on location in China has been poorly received by audiences and critics, in a fresh blow to Hollywood's bid to break into the lucrative Indian market.
"Chandni Chowk to China", a co-production with US studio Warner Brothers about a lowly Indian chef who is mistaken for the reincarnation of a fabled Chinese warrior, opened in cinemas on Friday.
"I watched the film in theatres and everyone was hooting and jeering," Indian comic actor Shekhar Suman told the Midday newspaper Monday.
"I don't think there has been a film as sad or horrible as 'Chandni Chowk to China.' I declare January 16 (the day the film was released) to be declared National Mourning in India, as it's the day cinema died."
Critics were equally negative, amid reports that scheduled screenings of the action-comedy were being reduced across the country.
Trade analyst Amod Mehra told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper Monday: "'Chandni Chowk to China' is a disaster. The film has no script, no action and no China.
"Distributors are crying and they are bound to lose copious amounts of money."
Another Bollywood expert, Vajir Singh, wrote in the Hindustan Times daily: "Everyone associated with the project will suffer losses. Unless there is a miracle, the prospects of 'Chandni Chowk to China' seems bleak."
Hollywood studios have been taking an increasing interest in India's 2.1-billion-dollar-a-year film industry in recent years.
Sony Pictures made the first move, co-producing the love story "Saawariya" (Beloved) in November 2007.
Walt Disney Pictures worked with Indian studio Yash Raj Films for the full-length animation feature "Roadside Romeo", released in October last year.
Warner Brothers had previously produced "Saas Bahu Aur Sensex", a small-budget comedy about unlikely investors in India's stock market, also in 2008.
All three failed to do well at the box office.
Bollywood analysts had expected "Chandni Chowk to China" to be the breakthrough blockbuster because of its cast of Indian action-hero Akshay Kumar and Chinese martial arts film veteran Gordon Liu.
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