The Young Brigade of Bollywood: Who is the next superstar?

There are two groups of competition in Bollywood. The first group consists of established stars like Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan and Hrithik Roshan. With years of hard work, success, failures and blockbusters behind them, these stars have firmly established themselves as bankable stars in every nook and corner of the country.

The second group is the younger brigade. The main players are Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, Sushant Singh Rajput and Arjun Kapoor. Much like the established stars, there is tremendous competition between the younger stars too.

The big question is, which of these stars can go on to replace the established stars in the industry and who amongst them has the potential to make it big in the future.

Our analysis:

Ranbir Kapoor

What works: His acting talent is his biggest strength, followed by his fan-following among the urban youth. The fact that some of the best directors in the industry like Rajkumar Hirani, Karan Johar and Imtiaz Ali are keen on casting him in their films, will also be a huge confidence booster for the actor.

What doesn’t work: His choice of films has let him down in the last couple of years. He has attempted to do films belonging to different genres and some of them with limited appeal, something that has resulted in loss of some amount of his equity among his fans. Also, his appeal towards the masses is limited.

Future prediction: He may be facing flak for the kind of films that he has chosen, but as cliched as it might sound ‘form is temporary, but class is permanent’. His future films like Tamasha, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Sanjay Dutt biopic seems promising enough to take him back to the big league.

Chances of Ranbir Kapoor making it to the big league: 9 on 10.

Ranveer Singh

What works: A talented actor who can cut across the mass audience as well as appeal to the multiplex audience. Ranveer has also played a range of different characters on screen and has built a loyal fanbase for himself. With the right attitude and choice of films, he has the potential to make it to the big league.

What doesn’t work: His energy and over-enthusiasm can get irritating at times. His fashion sense is one of the weirdest among the lot and his apparels express more than impress. In short, it’s his off-screen persona that has created negativity around him.

Future prediction: He has had his share of films that have gone wrong like ‘Kill Dil’, ‘Ladies vs Ricky Bahl’ and ’Lootera’. However, Ranveer has also been appreciated for his performances in almost all his films. The keenly-awaited ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ has not been a huge commercial success, but Ranveer’s performance has been appreciated by most. His forthcoming ’Bajirao Mastani’ is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Industry sources claim it’s his best performance to date.

Chances of Ranveer Singh making it to the big league: 8 on 10.

Shahid Kapoor

What works: A versatile actor, excellent screen-presence, a great dancer and one of the best looking actors in the industry – Shahid Kapoor has everything going for him, he is the perfect package to make it to the big league.

What doesn’t work:  He has always been considered the best bet to make it big, but for some reason, his films have under-performed at the box office. His choice of films has been extremely poor and some films that he rejected, have gone on to be major hits. His attitude and mood swings have also been questioned.

Future prediction: With ‘Haider’ winning him huge appreciation and with films like ‘Shandaar’ and ‘Udta Punjab’ in the pipeline, Shahid Kapoor is readying himself for bigger things in the industry. He just needs one big hit to turns things around for him. It also remains to be seen if marriage will prove to be lucky for the actor.

Chances of Shahid Kapoor making it to the big league: 8.5 on 10.

Varun Dhawan

What works: A versatile actor who reminds us of Govinda and Salman Khan. When it comes to the luck factor, his career could be compared to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Everything that Varun has touched so far, has turned into box office gold.

What doesn’t work: His personality and screen presence isn’t the best when compared to his contemporaries like Sidharth Malhotra and Ranbir Kapoor. His dialogue delivery has been severely criticised and rightly so. When sharing the screen with better actors, Varun faces the risk of being overshadowed. Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Badlapur, for example.

Future prediction: The biggest test for Varun Dhawan will come when one of his films fails at the box office. But until then, he has one safe film in the form of Shah Rukh Khan’s Dilwale and then the massive challenge of living upto expectations in Karan Malhotra’s Shhuddhi, where he has replaced mega stars like Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan. Plenty of potential to make it big in the industry and he can only improve as an actor from here.

Chances of Varun Dhawan making it to the big league: 8 on 10.

Sidharth Malhotra

What works: His personality and his presence is enough for his fans to drool over him. He also enjoys a huge fan following amongst his female audience and has the potential to be the ‘next angry young man’ on screen.

What doesn’t work: He has a long way to go both as an actor and in the dancing department.

Future prediction: He seems to understand what works for him in terms of characters that he plays on screen and hence his choice of films has been great so far. Brothers looks like another 100 crore+ grosser and will definitely help him create a fanbase amongst the masses.

Chances of Sidharth Malhotra making it to the big league: 7 on 10.

Arjun Kapoor

What works: Arjun Kapoor enjoys a decent following amongst the single screen audience.

What doesn’t work:  His personality is the weakest among the younger generation of actor. He has also failed to establish a fanbase for himself. His carefree and loud attitude at times works against him.

Future prediction:  He needs to be careful when it comes to career choices. Tevar, which was pitched as a 100 crore film, and sold for an exorbitant price, tanked without a trace at the box office.

Chances of Arjun Kapoor making it to the big league: 5 on 10.

Sushant Singh Rajput

What works: Talented actor and given his television background, he reminds us of Shahrukh Khan during his younger days. Like SRK, he has opted to do different films at the beginning of his career (Kai Po Che and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy).

What doesn’t work: Unlikely to hold universal appeal, especially at mass centres.

Future prediction: With the revenue from multiplex business increasing quite significantly each year, popularity in mass centres is no longer as important as it was a couple of decades ago. He has a few interesting films like MS Dhoni biopic, under a terrific director like Neeraj Pandey.

Chances of Sushant making it to the big league: 6 on 10.

Which young actor will make it big in the future?

  • Ranbir Kapoor (23%, 1,612 Votes)
  • Varun Dhawan (22%, 1,563 Votes)
  • Shahid Kapoor (19%, 1,366 Votes)
  • Sidharth Malhotra (17%, 1,179 Votes)
  • Ranveer Singh (14%, 981 Votes)
  • Sushant Singh Rajput (4%, 318 Votes)
  • Arjun Kapoor (1%, 62 Votes)

Total Voters: 7,081

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279 Comments

  • Obviously Ranbir kapoor..but after him I’ll go with ranveer Singh..he is a very good actor..I’m also looking forward to sidharth malhotra in brothers and what kind of projects varun dhawan choses for himself..his litmus test starts after Dilwale

  • Varun n sid are gonna be the next big thing! They are complete package like the legendary khans ! And akki n Ajay r not huge banakble stars !
    If they done good work they r appreciated but they didn’t gurranty success!
    Shahid n Ranbir kapoor can take their place

  • Ranbir is a superstar as the blockbuster collections of YJHD and openings of Besharam & Roy (where he had a cameo) showed. Tamasha & ADHM are similar to YJHD so should also be big grossers. He also has a Hirani film which should be a big blockbuster no doubt.

    Varun is good but only in commerical films, he isn’t that great an actor like Ranbir. Arjun is a bad actor and has poor screen presence so no hope for him.

  • i voted varun..i like him from his very first movie…from others ranbir kapoor..just i don’t like ranveer singh attitude..otherwise he is good actor

  • Without no doubt Ranbir will be superstar… And Sushant singh too has bright future… Other stars are total waste of time, especially Ranveer…

  • According to me, shahid will be most successful , followed by varun and then ranbir and then if possible, siddarth. Ranveer and arjun will/ most likely flop badly while sushant has only lead 4 films in which he was overshadowed by rajkumar rao, parineeti, aamir khan respectively in first three films. So impossible to judge him based on this.

  • and yea..it is wrong to count shahid kapoor in youngsters..i mean he came in industry 2 years after Hrithik’s debut..

  • Emraan Hashmi??? That’s the reason his movies are not working, because he is not loved by media.. Arjun Kapoor has more chances than Emran Hashmi??? Huge disappointment from you indicine

  • Shahid has been in bollywood for 13 years and has no clean hit since Jab We Met. If he had everything to make it big he would have by now. He might be like Saif Ali Khan – good actor and capable of a hit once in a while but not a superstar.

  • Varun dhawan has gud looks mass actor, shahid acts brilliantly ,sid and sushant are better actor not great , ranbir luks charming ,adorable innocent heartthrob and most vesatile actor among them , arjun and ranvir singh are complete waste of time.. One does not know how to act properly and other overacts in every scene, they are nothing without the support of heroines.

  • None of the younger actors tipped to be superstars, apart from Ranbir and Shahid, are great actors. They’re all star kids who are average actors (in particular Varun, Arjun and Sid) and only in bollywood because of their connections. Even Abhishek Bachchan kept getting films because of his dad.

  • @indicine how can u forget imran khan….he has more talent than d ugly arjun kapoor..I don’t understand why u people don’t support him..and for God’s sake remove dis arjun kapoor from d list..

  • Ofcourse ranbir…he is the most versatile actor..i give him 10/10 for becoming a future superstar…varun is riding on his luck..i have told before nd now indicine agrees…i m sure shuddhi will become big hit nd then people will say are ye picture pehle hrithik aur salman ko mili thi…

  • Varun for sure. He has mass and class appeal and acts damn well! Disagree with what you’ve written about negatives. His sparkling screen presence is one his greatest strengths. It’s one of the reasons he was able to overshadow Alia in HSKD. And he has a great off screen personality everyone loves him. Ranbir and Sid are boring. Also his dialogue delivery is clear unlike Sid and Arjun who are pretty much inaudible.

  • Lol As Salman said in PPNH,anyone can be an actor these days. Most of them made it easy.Arjun and Varun wouldn’t have been actors if not for their families in the industry.

  • Ranbir Kapoor is not in the league of youngsters & his career is almost finished.He may remain in league of Abhishek Bacchan.

    Varun Dhawan will be next superstar for no doubt.

    Others will work in patches except Siddhart.

    Siddhart has no chance of becoming even a star.
    Ek Villian worked due to music & superb performance of Ritesh.
    No wonder if he supposed to be next Kumar Gaurav.

  • All of thm hv smthng in thm.
    But if u choose one it has to b Ranbir.. Hands down who ticks most of d boxes..
    Hope all of thm do well.
    Nice article indicine..

  • Lol..Shahid Kapoor still a young star??
    He has been in the industry since 12yrs now…

    Hrithik roshan was his counterpart not these vaun,sids..

  • Hahaha, all the actors you have mentioned are star kid or has Bollywood connection apart from Shushant Singh. Most big joke was Shahid kapoor a young actor, which angle Indicine, he has not delivered a single hit from long time, haider wasn’t a hit as per trade. No 100 cr grosser, 12 years in industry, Rajesh khanna and big b were lived their best phase of career in 12 years so as Salman and srk. If shahid in the list than why not john and emraan hashmi as they all started their career in 2003. I am too much irritated when shahid kapoor name comes with 3 year old actors like varun,Sid,shushant etc. Even ranbir has 8 year long career and he is superstar no doubt, as he is most talented actor. Having huge blockbusters like raajneeti,yjhd superhit ajab prem,barfi. Appreciated performance from rocket Singh,rock star,barfi,wake up Sid is enough that he is superstar.

    Among young lot I dont think except Varun any one can make it big as he is only actor who has fan base in mass and classes both, Indicine Nawajuddin is one of the best talent who has 15+ years experience behind him, in gangs of wasseypur he even was most liked ahead to Manoj vajpayee.So many actor could be overshadowed by him. Sid was overshadowed by Ritesh deshmukh in ek villain which not termed as very good actor apart from comedy.

    Shushant has good line ups and he is very talented too so I think he will make his mark but how big time will tell.

    Ranveer is hugely talented but his attitute and mannerism stops many to be a fan of him which could go against him.

    Sid malhotra,arjun kapoor not comes in my mind for star category so no comments.

  • Where are Tiger shroff ,vidyut ,pulkit samrat, rajkumar rao???? And why u have included shahid ,he has spent 15 years almost in bollywood??

  • Nice article Indicine.. If I had to bet everything on one actor making it big in the industry, then that actor would be Ranbir Kapoor. Like someone already said, he ticks the right boxes and has both the charisma and screen presence to make it huge.

    Only thing that is holding him back is his choice of films.. After Bombay Velvet and Besharam, I’m sure he will be more careful in the future.

    By the way, not even a single person voted for Arjun Kapoor? Where is Arjun Kapoor Fan lol!!

  • Arjun kapoor didn’t got a single vote, where is Arjun yongistaan fan vote, lol.
    Indicine could you please advise in which criteria shahid kapoor is young actor as I think he is 35 year old actor and 12 year experience.

    • @Sky, strongly feel age is on Shahid Kapoor’s side. He just turned 34 earlier this year and had a lot of time to make it big. One or two big films can make a huge difference. If Shandaar under Vikas Bahl’s direction does 100 crore or more, the media and industry perception will change.

      We also don’t see him lacking in any department. Looks, acting talent, dancing skills and he has a decent fan-following too.

  • only varun dhavan can be a superstar from your list. it is hard for ranbir but he can also be a superstar after some good movies. i feel he lost his way in making himself a next aamir khan.

  • I think Ranbir and Varun are definite superstars of tomorrow..
    Their persona both offscreen and onscreen is of a superstar.

    Shahid is a great actor,dancer but he just might not make it there.Also i don’t know why is’nt he associated with endorsing brands..I have’nt seen him in tv commercials since ages.

    Ranveer and Arjun are two damn irritating people.Specially after Gunday both have gone mental.

    Sushant is a good actor,his choice of films is nice but he hardly has any fan following.I have’nt seen a Sushant fan on twitter yet which could mean his films not getting special attention n craze.

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