'Mahabharat', 'Devon Ke Dev Mahadev' and 'Nagin' a big hit in China

India-China relationship, which is under stress but the gap caused because of these differences but the Indian mythological TV dramas like 'Mahabharat', 'Devon Ke DevMahadev' and 'Nagin' are playing a major role as Chinese audience are liking and enjoying the show turning it out to be a big hit, an article in a state-run daily said.

"Indian mythology itself is just fascinating. Its philosophy and worldview, which are very exotic, have been a wonderful new world to me," Yang Buhui, 29, who works in the gaming industry, was quoted as saying by the state-run Global Times.

Yang who is a volunteers a group that provides Chinese subtitles for Indian TV dramas.

She began the group of providing Chinese subtitles because of her favourite Indian TV series of all time, 'Devon Ke Dev Mahadev' (DKDM), which premiered in 2011 and ran a total of 820 episodes. It tells the stories of Lord Shiva, also known as Mahadev.

"I love the drama because it's a key to the world of Indian mythology," she said. "Besides, the actors and actresses are not only gorgeous, but their acting skills are good." Indian dramas are quite new to the Chinese audience, but they are gaining popularity, the report said.

Qing Qing, 35, who works in education industry, said she loves the actors so much that she would watch the "raw meat" episodes - the episodes in Hindi language that are not translated or subbed in Chinese yet.

In the beginning, there was not much translation work completed for Indian dramas, and Qing said she had to wait along time for Chinese subtitles. "Their acting skills are sogood that even the evil characters seem adorable, and you just can't hate them," Qing said.

While many of the popular domestic actors are young, gentle and slender with porcelain skin, Indian actors havemore exotic looks ranging from sweet to masculine to mature,she said.

"People like different things at different stages oftheir lives," she said. "When I was younger and knew less, I considered the most eye-catching the best, which was also promoted by the media."

The most viewed episodes by the group on bilibili.com,one of China's largest video-sharing communities, are the first four episodes of the second season of 'Naagin,' which have gained about 180,000 views as of May 1. The series, which began airing in 2015, is a supernatural drama.

Yang said "We translate the Russian subtitles into English and then into Chinese, which largely relies on us being familiar with the mythology and the dramas' storylines. Then we have people who major in Hindi language as well as experts in Indian mythology double check the subtitles."

Besides the language barrier, the biggest challenge for Indian dramas to gain popularity in China is the cultural differences. "In China, there is still a lack of interest and literature about Indian culture. People's knowledge of Indiais not objective enough," Yang said.

"Everybody knows that both China and India are among the greatest ancient civilizations in the world. However, compared to what they know about the countries from the West or other Asian countries such as Japan, what many Chinese know about India is still limited to the simple introductions in text Books," Qing said. "I hope that there will be a massiveimport of Indian films and dramas in the future." 

With Input from PTI