He said Bollywood movies have been the window to India for many Chinese for decades.

"My connect with India is through Indian movies. In early 1980s when I was a boy I watched Awara – produced in 1951 – and was quite impressed. The music, the dances and the actress, they were all so beautiful," he quipped, adding that he vividly remembers songs from the movie playing at street shops in China in those days.

"They played it loudly on the tape-recorder to attract more customers," he recalled.

Stating that the trend has revived in recent times with the success of many Bollywood movies in China such as Dangal, Secret Superstar and Hindi Medium, Huang said: "The Chinese audience connects to Indian films as they represent social issues that are similar. Same worries, same anxieties, same troubles such as fighting for children's better education."