Mumbai: Filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s controversial film Water starring John Abraham, Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas, has been reported as the highest-grossing Hindi language film in North America for 2006. The film which is the last in Deepa’s trilogy after the other elements – Fire and Earth – has grossed $2.3 million in the US since its release on April 28, washing aside the $ 2.2 million gross of Aamir Khan’s box office juggernaut Rang De Basanti that opened on January 27.

Seema Biswas who starred in Water was overjoyed as the film has already been making waves. ‘I am feeling very proud and happy to be associated to this film, Deepa Mehta and the people connected to this unit. The atmosphere of working will remain as a treasure for lifetime. Through this movie I received an international award (Genie Award) in Canada which is equivalent to the Oscars for the best actress,” says Biswas enthusiastically.

Aamir Khan stars in the third-biggest Hindi hit of the year, Fanaa , which was released on May 26 and has grossed $1.9 million to date. Even more impressive, the figures for Water include only ticket sales from the US while the grossers for the Aamir Khan films take in both the US and Canada as they were released in both countries simultaneously. In the US, Water was played in 91 theatres 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. Fox Searchlight, the film’s American distributor, is still opening Water in new cities around the country and expects the movie to keep playing for many more weeks to come.

However high-quality pirated DVDs of Water have hit the market and is slowly eating into its collections.