North America swoons over 'Water'

NEW YORK: 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 widow houses in 1930s, has grossed $2.3 million in the United States since its release on April 28 surpassing the $2.2 million gross by Aamir Khan’s hit Rang De Basanti which opened on January 27, Box Office Guru 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  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 US and Canada as they released in both countries simultaneously.

In the US, 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 fuelled 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, or one-quarter of the entire national gross.