In the Soviet Union, where "Yesenia" was released in 1975, it was seen by 91.4 million moviegoers. This makes "Yesenia" the most watched film in the history of the Soviet Union.
This movie was also extremely popular in China in early 80's, right after the culture revolution. Young Chinese were fascinated with the true love story and the beauty of the actress. They also enjoyed the movie score very much.