Soviet Union

Up until the 1980s, the largest overseas market for Indian films was the Soviet Union. After Dharti Ke Lal,^[1] the first Indian film to become a blockbuster at the Soviet box office was Awaara (1951), directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, released in the Soviet Union in 1954.^[9] Indian films had the strongest presence in the Soviet foreign blockbuster charts for four decades.^[10][11] 300 Indian films were released in the Soviet Union,^[12] most of which were Bollywood films.^[11][13] Among the foreign films that sold more than 20 million tickets in the Soviet Union, 50 were Indian films,^[14][15] the highest from any nation,^[11] compared to 41 Hollywood films.^[11] Indian films were routinely released with hundreds of prints in the Soviet Union, with the most popular Indian films releasing with more than a thousand prints there.^[15]

The highest-grossing Indian film in the Soviet Union was Disco Dancer (1982),^{[n 1]} written by Rahi Masoom Raza and starring actor Mithun Chakraborty. In terms of footfalls, the only Indian films estimated to have sold 100 million tickets overseas were Awaara^[16] and Disco Dancer in the Soviet Union.^[17] Indian films were very popular in Russia at the time, routinely opening to packed houses. However, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, bringing an end to Indian cinema's largest overseas market at the time. The decline of Russian cinema in the post-Soviet era led to Indian films largely disappearing from Russian cinemas by the mid-1990s.^[18]

China

In China, some of the Indian films to gain commercial success there during the 1970s–1980s included Awaara, Tahir Hussain's Caravan (1971), Noorie (1979), and Disco Dancer.^[19][20]

After Indian films declined in the country, it took decades before Tahir Hussain's son Aamir Khan opened up the Chinese market for Indian films in the early 21st century.^[19][21][20] His Academy Award nominated Lagaan (2001) became the first Indian film to have a nationwide release there.^[22][23] When 3 Idiots released in China, the country was only the 15th largest film market, partly due to China's widespread pirate DVD distribution at the time. However, it was the pirate market that introduced 3 Idiots to most Chinese audiences, becoming a cult hit in the country. It became China's 12th favourite film of all time, according to ratings on Chinese film review site Douban, with only one domestic Chinese film (Farewell My Concubine) ranked higher. Aamir Khan gained a large growing Chinese fanbase as a result. By 2013, China grew to become the world's second largest film market (after the United States), paving the way for Aamir Khan's Chinese box office success, starting with Dhoom 3 (2013).^[21]

PK (2014) was the first Indian film to collect ₹2 billion overseas,^[24][25][26] and Dangal (2016) is the first Indian film to exceed ₹10 billion and $100 million overseas,^[27] including ¥1.299 billion^[28] ($196.89 million)^[29] from China.^[27][30] Dangal became the 16th highest-grossing film in China,^[31] the fifth highest-grossing non-English language film worldwide,^[32] and the highest-grossing non-English foreign film in any market.^[33][34][35] His next film, the Zaira Wasim starrer Secret Superstar (2017), broke Dangal's record for the highest-grossing opening weekend by an Indian film, cementing Aamir Khan's status as a superstar in China,^[36] and as "a king of the Chinese box office".^[37] Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Irrfan Khan's Hindi Medium also became blockbusters in China during early 2018.^[38]

South Asian diaspora

Since the 1990s, the largest overseas market for Indian cinema has been the South Asian diaspora.^[39] South Asians in the United Kingdom were the first major diaspora market, with Indian film releases in the United Kingdom dating back to the 1950s.^[40]

The diaspora market grew significantly in the early 1990s, with the popularity of Shah Rukh Khan largely credited for popularizing the trend of Indian films targeting overseas NRI audiences.^[41] After substantial overseas success from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Darr (1993)^[42] and the Madhuri Dixit-Salman Khan-starrer Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994),^[43] the biggest overseas breakthrough came with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as NRIs in love.^[39] Afterwards, Indian films followed a trend of releasing worldwide with an increasing number of screens.^[44][45] The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dil Se.. (1998) was the first Indian film to enter the United Kingdom's top 10 box office charts.^[41] Diaspora audiences in the United States and United Kingdom accounted for 55% of overseas ticket sales for films such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Taal (1999).^[46] In 2000, the overseas export market for Indian films was worth $100 million annually.^[47] The Naseeruddin Shah-starrer Monsoon Wedding (2001) crossed ₹100 crore overseas, followed by the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer My Name Is Khan (2010)^[48] and then the Aamir Khan-starrer 3 Idiots (2009) in 2011.^[49][50] Shah Rukh Khan also holds the record for having starred in the annual highest-grossing Hindi film in overseas markets for 15 individual years, the highest for any actor, with the latest being Pathaan (2023).

China

Soviet Union

United States and Canada

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

Australia

Japan

Malaysia