How a 5 crore indie movie with no stars grew to become highest-grossing Indian movie abroad, beat hits of Shah Rukh, Aamir Khan

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Jun 29, 2025 12:09 PM IST

Made for simply ₹5 crore, this tiny movie with no stars grossed ₹145 crore worldwide, beating the largest hits of even the Khans.

Since the 90s, Shah Rukh Khan has been the flagbearer of Indian cinema abroad. His movies, from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and My Name is Khan to Jawan, have all labored nicely within the US and Europe, with some even eclipsing native releases. Similarly, Aamir Khan has dominated the roost in China. But in 2001, an impartial movie with no stars and a price range of simply ₹5 crore managed to outdo the largest hits of each these stars.

The tiny movie that beat heavyweights on the field workplace.

How a tiny movie grew to become India’s highest-grossing movie abroad

In 2000, screenwriter Sabrina Dhawan wrote a screenplay about an Indian household in Delhi throughout her time within the MFA movie program at Columbia University. Director Mira Nair got here on board to direct, and the movie got here to be generally known as Monsoon Wedding. Produced internationally between firms from India, the United States, Italy, France, and Germany, Monsoon Wedding had a modest price range of $1.2 million ( ₹5.5 crore on the time). It starred theatre and TV actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Lillette Dubey, Parvin Dabas, Vijay Raaz, Shefali Shah, Rajat Kapoor, Soni Razdan, Roshan Seth, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Three newcomers had been additionally a part of the forged – Vasundhara Das, Randeep Hooda, and Ram Kapoor. The movie was not anticipated to interrupt the financial institution on the field workplace, however Monsoon Wedding defied all expectations.

Monsoon Wedding had a big ensemble forged however no stars. The movie was a hit within the North American market, grossing over $13 million there, which stood because the file for an Indian movie within the US-Canada for years, earlier than being overtaken by Baahubali in 2017. Monsoon Wedding earned $30.8 million ( ₹145 crore) worldwide, with the majority of it coming from North America and Europe. It grew to become the highest-grossing Indian movie abroad, a tag it loved until Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Dangal overtook it 15 years later.

How Monsoon Wedding beat hits of the Khans

Shah Rukh Khan was on the peak of his profession in 2001 when Monsoon Wedding was launched. That yr, he had two releases—Asoka and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Both movies had been successes abroad, however their mixed abroad assortment was simply $14 million ( ₹60 crore), decrease than Monsoon Wedding. Even Aamir Khan’s Lagaan, which was additionally launched the identical yr and went to the Oscars, earned simply $3 million ( ₹13 crore) abroad.

Monsoon Wedding is at present out there to stream on each Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.