Indian films have been released in overseas markets since the latter half of the 1940s. Some of these have had significant commercial success and been nominated for awards.
The first Indian film to have a worldwide release was from 1952 (Aan, directed by Mehboob Khan). In the 1950s, Indian films saw success in a handful of regions. At the time, the most significant market for Indian films was the Soviet Union, gaining considerable success and occasionally leading to Indian-Soviet co-productions. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Indian film industry also expanded in China and East Africa, which, after the Soviet Union, accounted for some of the largest shares of overseas revenues. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the most significant market has been the South Asian diaspora. China, India's geographic neighbour and the world's second largest film market (after the United States), has seen growing success for Indian films since the beginning of the 21st century.