Secret Superstar

Fifteen-year-old Insia in Baroda wants to sing; her father absolutely forbids it. She covers her face with a veil, posts videos online and becomes famous anonymously. What the disguise really protects is not her but her mother, who takes the beatings. Advait Chandan's first film. Zaira Wasim plays Insia, Meher Vij the mother, Aamir Khan a washed-up music producer. Khan also produced. The numbers are the real story. The budget was 15 crore rupees, under two million dollars. It did well in India, but the explosion came in China: released there in early 2018, it took over a hundred million dollars, dozens of times its cost. Khan's pull with Chinese audiences was strong enough in this period that he was granted a profit-sharing deal, a rarity in that market. The melodrama runs high and the film does not hide it. Who it is for: viewers who like Indian dramas that braid domestic violence with escape through music. Who it is not for: anyone looking for restraint.