The 1951 Raj Kapoor starrer "Awaara" has been seen and enjoyed by so many across the globe that it may well be the "most successful film in the history of cinema at large", according to a leading professor of film studies.

Dina Iordanova, professor at the University of St Andrews, and other experts cite several texts and anecdotal evidence to state in a special issue of the journal "South Asian Popular Cinema" that "Awaara" may be a candidate for the title of the "most popular film of all times".

The journal's latest issue is devoted to mapping the career of Indian films in various national contexts outside South Asia. The issue includes several papers exploring the popularity of Indian films in places such as Greece, Bulgaria, Africa and Turkey. The papers cast fresh light on the popularity of Indian films beyond the better-known overseas markets such as the US and Britain.

The special issue is titled "Indian Cinema Abroad: Historiography of Transnational Cinematic Exchanges" and is co-edited by Iordanova and Dimitris Eleftheriotis of Glasgow University. Iordanova and others write extensively on "Awaara" in the issue.

Recalling her Bulgarian origins and childhood, Iordanova told: "I knew Indian films long before I had met any living Indian. We knew next to nothing of India and the Indians; we did not know much of the personality of Raj Kapoor either.

"However, the fascination with a film like 'Awaara' (Brodyaga in Bulgarian) was everlasting; everybody knew the actor's ever-singing dancing persona. Nothing could match up to the experience of watching 'Awaara'; this film was more fascinating than any other I can remember.

"Even though repeat viewing is not typical for the cinema going practices of Bulgarians, many admit that they have seen 'Awaara' numerous times. Why such fascination? The copy that we were watching was fairly old; the film was overlong and markedly over-the-top. Yet it was so absorbing.

"It was a film that, in an unabashed manner, revealed a whole different world where preposterous melodrama came across as completely legitimate (and thus mesmerizing), where improbable misapprehensions triggered infinite suffering and obstinate injustices, where people were not ashamed to be overemotional and were solemnly preoccupied with enchanting adoration.

"It was the candid praise of love and affection in the Indian movies that was truly enchanting for us... 'Awaara' remains a truly enduring global hit, yet one that is understudied and under-researched."

Iordanova and Eleftheriotis wrote in the journal: "Indian cinema was internationally popular for a significant period, starting in the 1930s and peaking around the 1960s. There were massive exports of Indian films and massive international interest in it.

"However, as these exports and acclaim did not target (nor took place in) the West (until recently the only place where such processes are properly studied), we really have no record of the intensity of these cinematic exchanges other than sporadic references and anecdotal evidence."

Iordanova wrote that it was difficult to think of any other film from the 1950s that was seen in so many countries and was as widely acclaimed as "Awaara". Most film history books, she added, analysed other films and mentioned "Awaara" only in passing, "yet I cannot think of any other film from that period that would have enjoyed such popular success transnationally".

Iordanova said: "At this oldest university in Scotland (University of St Andrews), we are making sure Indian cinema is properly represented in our teaching and we regularly screen classical and new Indian films for our students."

A British academic journal devoting a special issue on Indian cinema is the latest in the growing coverage of Indian films in the popular and academic press. British newspapers regularly publish reviews of new Indian films and report the number of Indian movies that figure in the top ten films in terms of box office collections.

This week The Times reported that Indian films had started "to make more money at the box office in Britain than home-grown productions". It said that during 2006, 69 Indians films were released in Britain and several were filmed on locations across Britain.

The newspaper reported: "In the five weeks since its UK release, 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna' has grossed more than 2 million pounds - the same as Vera Drake, the British film showered with Bafta awards and Oscar nominations, since it appeared 14 months ago. The three largest multiplex chains - Odeon, Vue Cinemas and Cineworld - routinely screen Hindi films that appear in the UK's top 15 film lists."

The Times quoted Lucy Jones of Nielsen EDI, which measures box office performance in 14 countries, as saying: "It's a recent development. Bollywood is not just a specialist cinema any more."