Chinese fans of Bollywood star Aamir Khan celebrated his 56th birthday on Sunday at the Indian Embassy here, highlighting his popular films like Three Idiots and Dangal, which struck a chord with the country’s youth as they focus on family values and relationships. About 80 fans, mostly youth, fondly recollected the influence of Khan’s movies on them, read out their letters to him and shared their videos and photos with him during his previous visits to the country.

Officials of the Indian Embassy attended the event besides facilitating it. Watched and commented upon by the top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, Aamir Khan’s movies starting with Three Idiots and followed by Dangal and Secret Super Star have become popular in China, raking up record box office earnings.

Dangal has earned over Rs 1300 crores in China. Khan has over 11.37 lakh followers on Sina Weibo, the popular Chinese social media platform akin to Twitter. Hundreds of fans wished Aamir Khan happy birthday on the Weibo page.

“Today is my birthday, come and bless me Aamir Khan wrote in his Weibo page. It is not an exaggeration to call him a cultural bridge between China and India. At the same time, he has a huge fan base in China and also maintains a good interaction with fans from all over the country, a note circulated at his birthday event said.

In a video message to his fans, Khan said he never in his wildest dreams imagined that his film Three Idiots will be successful in China and thanked them for the support. Yang Ajie, who heads the Aamir Khan’s fan club A+ in China, which has a million members online, said Khan’s movies have struck a chord with people in the country as his theme focuses on family values.

Like in India, his films became popular in China as they dealt with family values and family relationships specially that of parents and their children, she said. The movie Three Idiots which dealt with the pressures of competitive exams in India also became popular in China as the students have to write a national entrance exam called Gaokao, which determines the student’s entry into higher education, she said.

Hean, who earlier worked as the First Secretary, Culture in the Chinese Embassy in India and now is associated with private sector in China, said he is also a fan of Khan and organises A+ club saloons in the country. He said a lot of Chinese are fond of Indian culture and moved by Khan’s movies.

The event was held in the backdrop of India and China gradually disengaging troops in eastern Ladakh after months of tense standoff.