I Hate Luv Storys, a romantic comedy starring Bollywood heart-throbs Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor opened in India and across the world on Friday.
Movie theatres experienced between 80% and 100% capacity on opening day and several theatres increased the number of screenings in response to demand.
The movie has a potential audience of 150 million people and its director Punit Malhotra said Queenstown was not only a location for the movie, it was one of the characters.
Bollywood experts said the strong production company brand, combined with a fresh pairing of Indian stars, excellent music and terrific promotion had lured audiences in their hordes.
The movie was filmed partly in Queenstown at the start of the year.
Tourism New Zealand's regional manager for India and Southeast Asia, Kiran Nambiar, was instrumental in attracting the film-makers of I Hate Luv Storys to New Zealand and worked closely with Destination Queenstown during the filming to maximise exposure.
"The film has already achieved some great results for New Zealand," Mr Nambiar said.
"It's not just the movie that's giving Queenstown and New Zealand such great profile - there's also the coverage which has resulted from the Indian media contingent who accompanied the director and stars on the shoot."
Tourism New Zealand and Destination Queenstown hosted a range of media in Queenstown during filming, including fashion magazine L'Officiel which featured an 18-page photo shoot on lead actress Sonam Kapoor.
A week before I Hate Luv Storys premiered, more than 20 million viewers in India had a comprehensive look at Queenstown through several half-hour documentaries shot during the filming of the movie. Sonam & Imran's Adventures screened in a prime time Friday evening slot and was repeated several times during the following weekend.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said he was delighted with Queenstown's global exposure.
"What a great way to showcase Queenstown to the world, and particularly to India and its expatriates.
"In terms of tourism, India continues to be one of the global power houses, so we're hoping the movie will prompt more people to come and experience Queenstown for themselves.
"The Indian market is extremely valuable to Queenstown, because our low season coincides with their high season," he said.
"Tourism New Zealand, Destination Queenstown and Film Queenstown worked together seamlessly to bring the movie here and we're continuing to look for opportunities to bring Queenstown to the big screen," Mr Everitt said.
