What is this movie?

You probably haven't heard of this movie because it's from India, so unless you understand Hindi you would need subtitles to watch it anyway. Movies are the medium through which Indian people in America continue to hold onto the culture that they left behind. So, even though they don't make up a large percentage of the population, Indian people are willing to spend a lot of money to see these movies in the theater. Also, they tend to see the same movie numerous times, which quickly augments the amount that movie grosses. If you know anything about Indian cinema, the industry there - termed "Bollywood" - is the largest movie industry in the world, a much larger proportion of the Indian economy than Hollywood is for America, and they even put out almost twice as many movies a year. Granted, their appeal to non-Indian people used to be quite low, recent years have shown a rising popularity, i.e. the success of Lagaan http://us.imdb.com/Title?0282674, which you can even rent at Blockbuster. Moving beyond that are movies blending East and West by dealing with the cultural issues facing Indians in the America and England such as Mississippi Masala and the newer Bend It Like Beckham, which is basically a teenage, British - Indian version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Ok that was incredibly long but back to the statistic of Chalte Chalte being the top grossing movie of 2003 so far, I'm Indian and even I find it a little surprising. Though I have not seen the movie, and am not willing to pay $10 for the theater ticket when about a week after its release I can rent it for $1 at the local Indian video store, nor do I really have a desire to see it, many people I know have seen it and by their response it seems that it's just another movie that people go see for the actor/actress in it moreso than the actual plot or movie itself. In India people go see movies because it's the one thing that pretty much everyone can afford to do in order to escape the hardships of reality in a place where poverty has an entirely different and quite drastic meaning. In America, Indian culture has not only survived the immigration, but is actually thriving, as opposed to many other immigrant cultures. And it has brought with it the movies that are its strong foundation.

By now you probably feel like or or or or or . I know that was an unnecessarily excessive explanation to a simple question, but I guess it basically comes down to this: Indian people love movies, Indian people in America are willing to pay more to see their beloved movies, which they also probably end up seeing numerous times in the theaters; therefore Indian movies released in America have the opportunity to gross more money.

Hope that helps explain what is a relatively strange occurrence. :]

It's either a mistake, or whoever wrote it meant that it's the highest grossing movie IN INDIA of 2003, a statistic that may have been true when it was written, but is true no longer (as of July 27, 2003).

Huh? Highest grossing movie? According to Wik it was a flop at box office! I would rather believe Wik - SRK even admitted himself they could have done better.