<P> Bollywood films are popular in Southeast Asia, particularly in Maritime Southeast Asia . The three Khans of Bollywood (Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and Salman Khan) are very popular in the Malay world, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore . Bollywood is also fairly popular in Thailand . </P> <P> In Indonesia, due to Indian cultural ties, Bollywood films have been popular in the country, where they were first introduced at the end of World War II in 1945 . The "angry young man" films of Amitabh Bachchan and Salim - Javed were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, before Bollywood's popularity gradually began declining in the 1980s and 1990s . Bollywood experienced a revival in Indonesia with the release of Shah Rukh Khan's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) in 2001, becoming a bigger box - office success there than Titanic (1997). Since then, Bollywood has had a strong presence in Indonesia, particularly Shah Rukh Khan films such as Mohabbatein (2000), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Chalte Chalte (2003), and Veer - Zaara (2004), as well as Koi Mil Gaya (2003). </P> <P> In East Asia, some Bollywood films are widely appreciated in countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea . In Japan, several Hindi films have a cult following there, such as the films directed by Guru Dutt . Several Hindi films have also had mainstream commercial success in Japan, including Mehboob Khan's Aan (1952) starring Dilip Kumar, and Aziz Mirza's Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992) starring Shah Rukh Khan, which released there in 1997 and sparked a short - lived boom in Indian films released in Japan for the next two years . Another Shah Rukh Khan starrer, Dil Se...(1998), was also a hit in Japan . The highest - grossing Hindi film in Japan is the Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots (2009), which also received a Japanese Academy Award nomination . 3 Idiots was also a critical and commercial success in South Korea . </P> <P> Some Hindi movies had success in China back in the 1940s and 1950s, and are still popular among older generations of Chinese in the present . Some of the popular Hindi films in the region included Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Awaara (1951) and Do Bigha Zamin (1953). Raj Kapoor was a famous movie star in China, with the song "Awara Hoon" ("I am a Tramp") popular in the country . In China, the few Indian films to gain commercial success there during the 1970s--1980s included Awaara, Tahir Hussain's Caravan (1971), Noorie (1979), and Disco Dancer (1982). Famous Indian film stars in China included Raj Kapoor, Nargis, and Mithun Chakraborty . Since the 1980s, Hindi films significantly declined in popularity there, taking decades before Tahir Hussain's son Aamir Khan opened up the Chinese market for Indian films in the early 21st century . His Academy Award nominated Lagaan (2001) became the first Indian film to have a nationwide release there . The Chinese filmmaker He Ping was impressed by Lagaan, especially its soundtrack, and thus hired the film's music composer A.R. Rahman to score the soundtrack for his film Warriors of Heaven and Earth (2003). </P>

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