Most successful actors in Bollywood – Since 2000 (Analysis)

This article is an analysis of the success ratio of the films in which Top 6 stars (presently) of India have appeared in since 2000. Only the films where these actors had a ‘substantial’ role where accounted for. Cameos and extended guest appearances were cut out to rule the results from being unfairly skewed. A film is deemed to be ‘successful’ only when a film attains the ‘Hit’ status as a minimum prerogative. Average, above-average & semi-hit movies are not classified as successful movies as the only criteria for success of a Big Star’s movie is only when it earns a ‘Hit’ status for itself. Box office verdicts from BoxofficeIndia.com were used in this analysis because they are the only independent box-office tracking organisation in India without any prior allegiances to anyone in the industry. We are not judging the stardom of any of these actors and this article is only meant to give an indication of the profibility of the 6 most popular superstars over a fairly long period of time. The actors have been analyzed alphabetically.

Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan - Success ratio is 54.5%.

  • Failures: Mela (flop), Dil Chahta Hai (only did ‘average’ business at the time), Mangal Pandey (below average), Dhobi Ghat (semi hit) and Talaash (semi hit). Total failures: 5.
  • Successes: Lagaan (hit), Fanaa (super hit), Rang De Basanti (hit), Taare Zameen Par (super hit), Ghajini (All time blockbuster) and 3 Idiots (All time blockbuster).Total successes: 6.

Aamir Khan has appeared in only 11 movies in these 13 years. Although he wasn’t the lead in Dhobi Ghat, it has still been considered, as he himself has said that Dhobi Ghat was his last film, when he was promoting Talaash (also, he was in the film from start to finish and had a consequential part to play). I started writing this article with the impression that Aamir Khan would have the highest success ratio but a Hit % of 54.5% is a surprise. An even bigger surprise is that he is not the First but the Second most successful of our 6 Superstars (as I said, I was expecting Aamir Khan to easily occupy the first position).

Ajay Devgan

Ajay Devgn: Success ratio is 14.8%

  • Failures: Deewane (flop), Raju Chacha (flop), Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke (flop), Tera Mera Saath Rahen (flop), Company (below average), Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (flop), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (flop), Deewaangee (below average), Bhoot (average), Qayamat (semi hit), Chori Chori (flop), Gangaajal (above average), Parwana (flop), Zameen (flop), Khakee (average), Yuva (flop), Raincoat (flop), Insan (flop), Blackmail (flop), Zameer (flop), Tango Charlie (flop), Kaal (above average), Main Aisa Hi Hoon (flop), Apaharan (above average), Shikhar (flop), Golmaal (semi hit), Omkara (flop), Cash (flop), Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag (flop), Halla Bol (flop), Sunday (below average), U Me Aur Hum (below average), Mehbooba (flop), All the Best (above average), London Dreams (flop), Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge (average), Aakrosh (flop), Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (below average), Rascals (flop), and Tezz (flop).
  • Successes: Golmaal Returns (hit), Raajneeti (blockbuster), Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (hit), Golmaal 3 (blockbuster), Singham (super hit), Bol Bachchan (hit), and Son of Sardaar (hit).

Total Failures: 40 - Total Successes: 7

The fact that Ajay Devgn is now considered a Superstar even after such a dismal Hit %, speaks volumes of the turnaround that has happened in his career in the last 2-3 years. He was always known as an ‘actor’ more than a ‘Superstar’ because of his reserved personality, but all that has changed now thanks to his career choices. Hopefully, his present mass appeal will change his Hit percentage in the future.
Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar: Success Ratio is 23.5%

  • Failures: Hera Pheri (average), Dhadkan (average), Khiladi 420 (flop), Ek Rishtaa (below average), Ajnabee (average), Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya (flop), Aankhen (average), Awara Paagal Deewana (above average), Talaash (flop), Khakee (average), Police Force: An Inside Story (flop), Aan (flop), Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin (flop), Hatya: The Murder (flop), Aitraaz (average), Ab Tumhare Hawale Waton Saathiyon (flop), Insan (flop), Bewafaa (below average), Waqt (above average), Garam Masala (semi hit), Deewana Huye Paagal (flop), Dosti: Friends Forever (below average), Mere Jeevan Saathi (flop), Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (flop), Jaan-E-Mann (flop), Tashan (below average), Chandni Chowk to China (flop), 8 X 10 Tasveer (flop), Kambakkht Ishq (above average), Blue (below average), De Dana Dan (above average), Khatta Meetha (below average), Action Replayy (flop), Tees Maar Khan (semi hit), Patiala House (below average), Thank You (average), Desi Boyz (below average), Joker (flop), and Khiladi 786 (average).
  • Successes: Andaaz (hit), Mujhse Shaadi Karoge (hit), Phir Hera Pheri (super hit), Bhagam Bhag (hit), Namastey London (hit), Heyy Babyy (hit), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (hit), Welcome (blockbuster), Singh Is Kinng (super hit), Housefull (hit), Housefull 2 (super hit), and Rowdy Rathore (super hit).

Total Failures: 39 - Total Successes: 12.

Akshay Kumar has appeared in 51 movies in the last 13 years (the most for any of the 6 Superstars). That’s an average of almost 4 movies a year. He is the only Superstar right now (other than Ajay Devgn) who puts his Superstardom on the line multiple times in a year. The initial part of the 2000s was not a fruitful time for Akshay, and now as we all know, 2007 was the year which changed it around for him. He gave 4 hits in one single year and earned legions of fans across the country. He has gone through ups and downs throughout his career, but thankfully for his fans, he hit the ups more than the downs in 2012.

Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik Roshan: Success Ratio is 38.8%

  • Failures: Fiza (flop), Mission Kashmir (semi hit), Yaadein (flop), Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (flop), Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (flop), Mujhse Dosti Katroge (flop), Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (flop), Lakshya (below average), Jodhaa Akbar (semi hit), Kites (flop), and Guzaarish (flop).
  • Successes: Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai (blockbuster), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (blockbuster), Koi.. Mil Gaya (blockbuster), Krrish (blockbuster), Dhoom 2 (blockbuster), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (hit), and Agneepath (hit).

Total Failures: 11 - Total Successes: 7.

Hrithik Roshan burst on to the scene in 2000 with his debut film. He had a career slump after that, but occassional blockbusters in the form of Koi Mil Gaya, Dhoom 2 and Krrish kept his Superstar status alive. He is going through a career resurgence with two back-to-back Hits, and it remains to be seen what Krrish 3 brings for him and his fans. Regardless of the fate of Krrish 3, a success ratio of close to 40% is very decent for the youngest of our Superstars.

Salman Khan

Salman Khan: Success ratio is 30%

  • Failures: Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (above average), Chal Mere Bhai (average), Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega (flop), Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye (flop), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (flop), Tumko Na Bhool Payenge (flop), Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (above average), Yeh Hai Jalwa (flop), Tere Naam (above average), Garv: Pride And Honour (below average), Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa (flop), Lucky: No Time for Love (below average), Main Pyaar Kyun Kiya? (semi hit), Kyon Ki (flop), Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar (flop), Jaan-E-Mann (flop), Marigold (flop), God Tussi Great Ho (flop), Yuvraaj (flop), London Dreams (flop), and Veer (below average).
  • Successes: Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (hit), No Entry (super hit), Partner (blockbuster), Wanted (super hit), Dabangg (all time blockbuster), Ready (blockbuster), Bodyguard (blockbuster), Ek Tha Tiger (blockbuster), and Dabangg 2 (guaranteed to be at least a Hit).

Total Failures: 21 – Total Successes 9

What can one possibly say about Salman Khan that hasn’t been said already? The fact that he is a phenomena right now is well known, but what’s neglected is that his career has hit the roof only after seeing very pathetic lows. Wanted changed Salman’s career around and he hasn’t delivered a flop since Veer, which released in early 2010. He has stuck to his favourite genre (masala) and coupled with his television appearances, his popularity has sky-rocketed. Still, nothing is certain and it is upto Salman to continue his recent success. A success percentage of 30% is a very poor reflection of his superstardom, but fortunately his movie choices have become a lot better than they were before – which provides a lot of hope for the next few years.

Shahrukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan: Success ratio 62.5%

  • Failures: Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (flop), Josh (above average), One 2 Ka 4 (flop), Asoka (flop), Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (above average), Chalte Chalte (semi hit), Swades (flop), Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke, and Paheli (flop).
  • Successes: Mohabbatein (super hit), Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (Blockbuster), Devdas (hit), Kal Ho Naa Ho (hit), Main Hoon Na (hit), Veer Zaara (super hit), Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (hit), Don (hit), Chak De India (Blockbuster), Om Shanti Om (Blockbuster), Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Blockbuster), My Name Is Khan (hit), Ra.One (hit), Don 2 (hit), and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (hit).

Total Successes: 15 - Total Failures: 9

Even though SRK has appeared in as many as 24 films in the given time period, his success rate is the highest among all the Top 6 Superstars of the country. Some people can argue that some of his ‘hit’ were’t really hits, but that cannot be taken seriously as the trade considers the ‘hit’ movies to be successful. SRK’s consistency is even more amazing since his last failure was almost 8 years back in 2005. If he can deliver proper Hits even during the ‘bad’ phases of his career, then it remains to be seen what type of hits he will deliver when is enjoying a ‘good’ phase. And, as far as profitability is concerned, SRK takes the top spot quite convincingly.

Analysis:

5 of the Top 6 Superstars of the country have crossed 40 years of age and time is not on their side. 3 of the 6 Superstars – Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn are enjoying immense popularity recently, thanks to the remergence of the Masala genre. Their comebacks have made it a wide open game and now, any of the Top 6 actors can deliver massive hits on their day. The main reason producers invest money in movies is to make profits. If an actor has appeared in financially viable projects more than they have appeared in financially doomed projects, then the actor is considered to be successful. In this regard, Shahrukh Khan is the most successful of all the Superstars.

There’s been a change recently in the economics of Hindi films – thanks to the rise in money earned from satellite and other ancillary rights, the dependency on theatrical business has decreased and the risks (for producers) have come down rapidly. But at the end of the day, if your film is not theatrically successful, it is not a true success. Films have always been considered ‘hits’ only when they have done rip-roaring business theatrically. It doesn’t really matter how much money films earn from selling their satellite rights, as the trade always has, and always will consider a film successful if it has sold a bucketload of tickets.

The ranking of actors in terms of profibility (the higher the success %, the higher is the profibility):

  • 1. Shah Rukh Khan
  • 2. Aamir Khan
  • 3. Hrithik Roshan
  • 4. Salman Khan
  • 5. Akshay Kumar
  • 6. Ajay Devgn

The actors with the most number (not percentage) of hits (or better):

  • 1. Shah Rukh Khan (15)
  • 2. Akshay Kumar (12)
  • 3. Salman Khan (9)
  • 4. Hrithik Roshan (7)
  • = 4. Ajay Devgn (7)
  • 6. Aamir Khan (6)

The actors with the most number (not percentage) of failures:

  • 1. Ajay Devgn (40)
  • 2. Akshay Kumar (39)
  • 3. Salman Khan (21)
  • 4. Hrithik Roshan (11)
  • 5. Shah Rukh Khan (9)
  • 6. Aamir Khan (5)

Special Mention: Films in which these actors had small or inconsequential parts were not considered: Salaam-E-Ishq, Phir Milenge, Billu, Gaja Gamini, Luck By Chance, Jaani Dushman, Lajja, LOC Kargil, Taarzan: The Wonder Car are a few of the films not considered. Animated films where these actors were voiceover artists have not been considered as well (Toonpur Ka Superhero and Jumbo). Incidentally, even if these films were considered, the rankings of the actors would NOT change from their current positions.

P.S. A case can be made for the inclusion of Ranbir Kapoor in this list as he is considered to be the 7th Superstar or a mini-Superstar. His success percentage is 33% as he has appeared in 9 films till now and has given 3 Hits (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahaani, Raajneeti and Barfi).

Article by Zayden, tweets @ManvsHandle

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218 Comments

  • Say thanx to the writer who didn’t included SRK’s overseas performance from 2000-12 and kept this article somehow bearable for some Masala walla’s & So called ‘Perfectionist’ fans……

  • I am not a Shahrukh Khan fan.. But I have got to admit, it’s a fair article. Well analysed and a lot of effort and hard work put into it to compile the data. Kudos to the writer.

    But like Reshma mentioned above.. I am not too sure if the trade actually considers a ‘semi-hit’ as a failure. For example, there is no way, Jodha Akbar is a failure. In fact, BOI initially had listed Jodha Akbar as a super hit, later they changed it to just a hit and now semi-hit. So I dont understand how a film that was considered a super hit back then, can be reduced to just semi-hit status??

    So here is what I have done.. I have included all the semi hits (of all actors) into successful film.. below are the results (in order)

    1. Aamir Khan – 72.7% (Success 8 – Failures 3)
    2. SRK – 66.7% (Success: 16 - Failures 8)
    3. Hrithik – 50% (Success 9 – Failures 9)
    4. Salman – 33.33% (Success 10 – Failures 20)
    5. Akshay – 27.4% (Success 14 – Failures 37)
    6. Ajay Devgn – 19.1% (Success 9 - Failure 38)

    So as per my analysis.. Aamir Khan tops, SRK comes second and Hrithik 3rd. The rest of the list remains the same.

    Zayden, tell me what you think :)

  • Nice article. Well, there are few mistakes. Oh My God (Super-Hit) and Khiladi 786 (Hit) haven’t yet been credited to Akshay Kumar while Dabangg 2 is credited to Salman Khan. Also Agneepath is a Super-Hit (Not a hit or blockbuster).

  • First let SRK beat Salman Khan’s Ready, that itself is a dream for SRK which he has been chasing from last 2 years. Every film is expected to cross 200 crore (by media and fans only) but ends up below 120.

    Even Akshay Kumar (Rowdy Rathore 135 cr), Hrithik Roshan (Agneepath 125 cr) and Ranbir Kapoor (Barfi 123 cr) have bigger grossers than SRK.

  • worst movie of this year is agneepath followed by joker hritik dad spoon feeding kid….k3g and znmd r mulistarers hritik role in film sucess

  • This Article is a “Karvi Goli” / “Sour Tablet”. So its very difficult to ccept the reality for haters. So keep barking.

  • @NVS(duplicate) at 7:30 p.m aka a srk fan. Should i remind you that salman is the only actor ever in bollywood history to give 5 bbs(not of which 2 are atbbs and dabaang 2 will surely be a b.b) in a row and well srk’s last 4 are hit, hit,hit and hit(if i am not wrong). And i am sure ce will be rejected by the indian masses as they cant accept any star other than salman,akki & ajay in masala movies and his ‘happy new year’ will bring a doom to him for the next year. So wait for the inevitable.

  • @NVS(duplicate) at 7:30 p.m aka a srk fan. Should i remind you that salman is the only actor ever in bollywood history to give 5 bbs(out of which 2 are atbbs and dabaang 2 will surely be a b.b) in a row and well srk’s last 4 are hit, hit/avg,hit and hit(if i am not wrong). And i am sure ce will be rejected by the indian masses as they cant accept any star other than salman,akki & ajay in masala movies and his ‘happy new year’ will bring a doom to him for the next year. So wait for the inevitable.

  • Zayden, we all know that you are srk fan. we have noticed that on twitter. so please stop posting these nonsense articles. and in_di_ci_ne if you want to lose some of your viewers, then let this guys publish some more posts.

  • Good analysis Suniel. :)

    When I started writing this article, I thought about considering semi hits as successfull but then after that, I realized that the semi in front of the Hit makes it void. BOI’s verdicts can be debated, as nothing is beyond debate, but I chose BOI because they are the most widely followed BO site in India.

    I was expecting Aamir to top it because the public perception is that he is the No. 1 (maybe he really IS) but it did not make sense to me that semi hits should be considered successful. Still doesn’t. Anyway, thanks for a logical reaction to the writeup.

    Zayden

  • this is what called a perfect analysis.. it clearely shows who is the superstar… salman khan cannot be considered as a superstar as he is consistent only for the last 3 years…he is a flop star…

  • yar kank don raone all r avg movie
    they not clean hits
    they diplomatically hits by boi

    if these hits then other actor avg or semi hits movie clean hits

  • Y this article has come now Bcoz Srk fans facin lots of frustation jealous and insecurity abt Dabangg 2 business so writer had posted this article to give some relax to Srk fans .Good job writer

  • According to bo u got the fact ..according to qlty of movie 1. Srk
    2.amir
    3.ranbir
    4.hrithik
    5.aki
    6.ajay

  • its a fact srk is deliverd hits in every kind of film n he not deppend on mass films b’coz of that srk srk is stands
    ahead of all other actors n upcoming year some extant massy films every one see the diff in boxoffice collection n CE or HNY releale on holliday+solo then BO will jut boom

  • its a fact srk is deliverd hits in every kind of film n he is not deppend on mass films b’coz of that srk srk is stands
    ahead of all other actors n upcoming year some extant massy films every one see the diff in boxoffice collection n CE or HNY releale on holliday+solo then BO will jut boom

  • infact last 12 year hritik srk amir
    doing very few movies so obviously their sucsess ratio better than other stars
    whereas
    akshy 53
    ajay 47
    salman 32
    movies done

  • Zayden, you should have called it ‘HIT RATIO’ and not ‘Success Ratio’ because Above Average, Commission earners and Semi-Hits are considered to be successes.

    Calling semi-hit and above average grossers as ‘failures’ is the only flaw in your well-written and well-analysed article.

  • @srk…king is here. Hahaha silly joke, placing srk at the top. Quality wise
    1.aamir
    2.hrithik(except kites)
    3.ranbir
    4.srk
    5. Salman

  • Talaash is a semi-hit? Wow. I didn’t know that.

    I thought Aamir was most successful, I was wrong.

    Great article.

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