'Water' going strong in North America 22nd June 2006
12.30 IST
By Agencies
Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta 's controversial film Water has become the highest-grossing Hindi language film in North America for 2006, according to a cinema website tracking movie earnings.
Starring Lisa Ray and John Abraham , the drama about Hindu widows in 1930s has grossed 2.3 million dollars in the United States since its release on April 28, surpassing the 2.2 million dollar gross by Aamir Khan 's hit Rang De Basanti which opened on January 27, BoxOfficeGuru reported.
Khan also stars in the third-biggest Hindi hit of the year, Fanaa , which debuted on May 26 and has grossed 1.9 million dollars to date, it said.
Even more impressive, ‘Water's figure includes only ticket sales from the United States while the grosses for the Aamir Khan films include both the U.S. and Canada as they released in both countries simultaneously.
In the U.S., ‘Water’ has played in limited release reaching 91 theaters at its widest point of distribution and has remained in the Top 30 for the past seven consecutive weeks fueled by strong word-of-mouth.
The award-winning film has performed best in the New York metro area where it has grossed over 554,000 dollars, or one-quarter of the entire national gross.