Three Khans of Bollywood: What separates them from others?

In the last 25 years, the Hindi Film Industry has gone through a drastic makeover. Genres, Trends, Technologies, Release Plans, Marketing Strategies and box office collections have been completely redefined over the past few years. As the Markets (both Domestic and Global) are expanding exponentially, stakes have become a lot higher and as a result stardom is something that is volatile and cannot be taken for granted.

“Change is the only constant” – Greek philosopher Heraclitus

But one look at the Top 3 male stars makes us wonder, is it really so or change is just a mere illusion? No prize for guessing that we are talking about the mega Khan trio of Bollywood – Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan. They have been successfully ruling the roost for the past 2 decades and have managed to consistently raise their stardom to new heights.

Khans Outlook Magazine

Khans Outlook Magazine

This has never happened in the history of Bollywood that 3 actors have continuously dominated for such a long time. Yes, there are other mainstream actors who have seen periods of super success during this era but it goes without saying that these 3 Khans stand out. Rather than disputing over who is biggest out of these 3, let us try to analyse the major factors which have made them the living legends of Indian Cinema.

Understanding the Audience: All the 3 Khans have to be credited for understanding their audience perfectly. They have packaged themselves smartly and are genius in handling the PR and marketing strategies. While Baadshah Shahrukh enjoys the image of an eternal romantic superstar, Aamir comes across as a no-nonsense Perfectionist who can do nothing wrong. Salman Bhai carries his real life aura of a large hearted Being Human personality. Over a period of time, they have become wise enough to choose projects which leave their trademark stamp on the fans.

Midas-Touch: Head Honchos of two of the biggest production houses of India – Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions – started their careers with Shah Rukh Khan starrers and reached dizzy heights by continuing to work with him. Farah Khan tried ‘Tees Maar Khan’ without SRK and fell flat on her face. Ashutosh Gowariker, Rakesh Mehra and Vijay Krishna Acharya were flop directors before Aamir green-lighted their projects and made them big. Abhinav Kashyap, who gave one of the most loved entertainers of last decade in ‘Dabangg’, tried the same tricks without Salman and ended up with ‘Besharam’. Arguably one of the biggest directors of this era, Sooraj Barjatya, also failed to repeat his magic when he worked with leading men other than Salman. Now Sooraj is back with his lucky mascot and ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ is super-hot in the trade.

Trendsetters: Today release date of a movie has become extremely important. But not many years ago, Ramadan was considered a bad period for Hindi movie release. Also, filmmakers used to refrain to release their movies during Christmas because of the extreme cold wave in the North India. We don’t even remember big films awaiting for an Eid or Christmas release 5 years ago. Yes, a national holiday surely does boost the collections of a movie today but the product should have the potential to utilize that benefit as well. Audience want to see Khans on big screens and that is the reason they go out in maximum numbers during the festivals. Coming to Genres, family movies completely ruled in the mid-90s with mega trendsetting films like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge and Raja Hindustani. Then again in the last decade, regular single screen masala has been brought back to the fore with movies like Om Shanti Om, Ghajini, Wanted and Dabangg. Khans set the rules and others follow.

Lovable Personalities on Small Screen: Off the big screen, all the Khans have extremely charming personalities. Salman is super entertaining as the host of ‘Bigg Boss’ and ‘Dus Ka Dum’ on the small screen. Aamir showcased his intellect in Satyamev Jayate and gained further respect. Although Shahrukh has not seen much success as TV serial host, he is easily the most charming and witty anchor of various award functions. Definitely, their craze has grown manifolds due to their stint on television.

Uniqueness: All the three Khans have distinct personalities and varied career graphs from each other. They have not tried to follow the path of other successful actors. SRK started his career with negative roles and then turned a lover boy. Aamir and Salman started their careers with romantic hits. While Aamir did some memorable path breaking movies, Salman became a common man hero with his larger than life screen presence.

The ever-growing charisma of Khans is at its peak now and is sure to continue for at least a few more years. Quite possibly the legends have skipped a generation of next superstars between themselves. They are raising the standards of stardom to a new high making it extremely hard for the younger lot to match up to the level of this long lasting hysteria.

Article by Abhishek Sharma (tweets @abhu_sharma)

How many years will the Khans continue to rule?

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306 Comments

  • Max. 5 yr after shahid and ranbir the new king of Bollywood’s… Ranbir= srk Shahid= aamir.. Let’s see who will took place of aamir=???

  • Max. 5 yr after shahid and ranbir the new king of Bollywood’s… Ranbir= srk Shahid=salman… Let’s see who will took place of aamir=???
    Ranbir have acting like srk n Shahid have action packed hero n charming like salman ….

  • 5 to 10yrs more they will continue to rule.

    after that youngistaan will take over
    1 ranbir
    2 ranveer/varun
    3 varun/ranveer
    4 arjun/sid
    5sid/arjun

  • These lines are enough to prove that its SRK who build Dharma and YRF and vice-versa is not true :

    Head Honchos of two of the biggest production houses of India – Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions – started their careers with Shah Rukh Khan starrers and reached dizzy heights by continuing to work with him. Farah Khan tried ‘Tees Maar Khan’ without SRK and fell flat on her face.

    This is tight slap for those haters, who bark that urf and Dharma made SRK.
    You made my day indicine :D

    I think, SRK and Amir should concentrate on content based scripts two years down the line, rather doing larger than life or masala movies. I would like to see them in movies like MNIK,PK,CDI,TZP etc. I don’t want any CE,HNY or Ghajini from them after two years,
    Whereas Teesra khan will start his second phase with “Neil Nitink Prem ko Paayo” where he is featured as “Niel Nitin’s” dad. From now on, he will be accepting Alok Nath type sanskari roles rather doing out-to-out masala movies :D

  • aamir khan will forever remain my fav khan bcz he managed to several pathbreaking cinema in his glorious carrer as well ashis versatility.from dhoom3 to rang de,sarfarosh to rangeela,ghajini to taare zameen par u just cant get more versatile than that

    srk will reamin no.2 bcz of consistenly entertaining me fo so many years and teaching me the various aspects of love as well as patriotism with outstanding movies like swades and chak de

    salman will remain at 3rd spot but i like him

  • Khans r immortal…

    They will rule forever…

    Srk is king of romance…

    Salman khan blockbuster king…

    Aamir khan the perfectionist…
    Emraan hashmi gonna rule btown after khans…

  • Srk is the king of romance…
    Salman blockbuster action king..
    Aamir perfectionist…

    I think they will rule for next 10 yrs..

  • SRK has maximum 5 ATG in overseas….
    SRK has the maximum 20+ BB/ATBB in overseas…
    SRK has maximum 15 HGOTY in overseas..
    SRK has the maximum 9 WW HGOTY..
    Without YRF SRK has 14 BB/ATBB in overseas…
    Without Dharma SRK has 15 BB/ATBB in overseas…
    Without YRF and DHARMA SRK has 9 BB/ATBB in overseas which is still highest….
    maximum years on top position in overseas-SRK 16 years (1995 to 2010)..
    No actor is even close to him when it comes to overseas….

  • Where is Akshay??It is not easy to deliver four films in a year,on non-holiday n still he manages to get gud results
    Khans r darpokdarpok
    Non-holiday
    Talaash-95cr with rani n kareena n first release after 3 idiots( 3 years)
    Jai ho -111 after 1 year from d2
    N srk-mnik-71 cr which founded gud appreciations,had karan johar srk-kajol combo
    Dey cant deliver big hits without gud promotion,good star cast.chartbuster songs nd edx
    I m damm sure that fan will be highly promoted n will fail to cross even 100cr mark
    Akki is not bigger than salman but he is certainly bigger than aamir n srk!!

  • Too much of a$$ kissing of 3 Khan’s.
    The article doesn’t mention that Aamir had a 4 year gap between Dil Chahta Hai and Mangal Pandey but still it underperformed at the box office.
    Also, Sunny Deol gave the biggest hit of his career Gadar at the age of 45 in 2001 and overshadowed Aamir’s Lagaan.

    SRK ruled the box office for the most time, but if counted, most of his hits were restricted to YRF n Dharma Productions.

    Salman had sporadic successes between 2000-2009 along with huge disasters like Kyonki, God Tussi Great Hi n Yuvraj.

    Also, before Hrithik no one had delivered 2 back 2 back blockbusters(Krrish n Dhoom 2) within 6 months in the same year.

    Only Salmanbhai has been able to break that record in 2011-2012.

  • @ indicine, you are wrong, bollywood had three more legends who dominated in 50s and 60s those are: Dilip saahb, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor

  • Many have come many have gone .

    But the three legends are still ruling bollywood since their debut…. !!!!
    Extraordinary things come to extraordinary people, same case is with
    the three khans respect !!!!!!!

    Three khans will rule bolly till 2022 for sure
    this is my guess….. !!!
    srk aamir and salman Rocks ….!!!

  • Thanks Indicine for such a lovely article about the trio of Bollywood.

    I Love All Three Blockbuster Khans, they are truly entertaining us since a 25 years long time and it is awesome, i always love to watch SRK SALMAN & AAMIR movies whereas they make good movies or bad but i always enjoyed their movies.

    My top 5 favorite movies of each n every Superstar Khan.

    AAMIR KHAN

    1. 3 Idiots
    2. PK
    3. Ghulaam
    4. Lagaan
    5. Raja Hindustani

    SALMAN KHAN

    1. Bajrangi Bhaijaan
    2. Dabangg
    3. Maine Pyar Kiya
    4. Mujh Se Shaadi Karogi
    5. Bodyguard

    S.R.K

    1. Baadshah
    2. Veer Zaara
    3. Om Shanti Om
    4. Koyla
    5. Chahat

    Thank you SRK, SALMAN BHAI & AAMIR SIR for entertain me a lot in my life, i can not forget the true Superstars like you keep dominate the Bollywood there is no one in front of you.

  • They will easily keep their positions even in next 5-10 years.Leaving fans rivalry aside I would say that KHANS phenomenon is the best thing in the history of bollywood.As you explained every one has his own charm and attraction and similarly ups and downs in the industry but even in their ups and downs they were the biggest stars of INDIA.Respect for SRK,SK and AK.

  • It’s not Khans I think it’s one and only Akshay Kumar…He doesn’t promote his films like khans still he’s the highest grossing actor in India and for acting Akshay is a way better than other superstars in India…For stupids Irrfan Khan the best actor in India…Not khans…
    SRK is the king of romance,I agree with it…
    Aamir Khan gives us great movies but after 1-2 years…
    Salman Khan should change his genre now…
    After all Akshay Kumar is the only superstar in India who’s best at comedy,action and thriller…And he’s only actor who can performed very well in every single movie…
    Collection doesn’t matter humanity,Respect and hardwork matters…
    People’s who’s garbaging about him should die bcz if ur talking bad about him u must be better than him what ur not…
    All the khan fans kindly check what ur khans thought about Akshay Kumar why he’s the most successful superstar in India…Kindly check it…

  • Salman Khan Vs Shahrukh Khan Vs Aamir Khan All Time Records

    1) Highest Grosser Of The Century Worldwide
    ?> Salman–1
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–0
    |Winner_Salman|

    2) Highest Grosser Of The Century Domestic
    ?> Salman–1
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–0
    |Winner_Salman|

    3) Highest Grosser Of All Time Worldwide
    ?> Salman–1
    Shahrukh–1
    Aamir–4
    |Winner_Aamir|

    4) Duration Of Highest Grosser Worldwide
    ?> Salman–12 Yrs
    Shahrukh–0.5 Yr
    Aamir–6.5 Yrs
    |Winner_Salman|

    5) Highest Adjusted Grosser Of All Time
    ?> Salman–HAHK
    Shahrukh–DDLJ
    Aamir–RH
    |Winner_Salman|

    6) Highest Grosser Of All Time Domestic
    ?> Salman–1
    Shahrukh–1
    Aamir–4
    |Winner_Aamir|

    7) Duration Of Highest Grosser Of All Time Domestic
    ?> Salman–7 Yrs
    Shahrukh–0.5 Yr
    Aamir–6.5 Yrs
    |Winner_Salman|

    8) Back To Back All Time Highest Grosser Worldwide
    ?> Salman–0
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–2
    |Winner_Aamir|

    9) Back To Back All Time Highest Grosser
    Domestic
    ?> Salman–0
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–2
    |Winner_Aamir|

    10) 2nd Highest Grosser Of All Time
    ?> Salman–7
    Shahrukh–3
    Aamir–0
    |Winner_Salman|

    11) Highest Grosser Of The Decade Worldwide
    ?> Salman–2
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–1
    |Winner_Salman|

    12) Highest Grosser Of The Decade Domestic
    ?> Salman–2
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–1
    |Winner_Salman|

    13) Back To Back Highest Grosser Of Decade Worldwide
    ?> Salman–2
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–1
    |Winner_Salman|

    14) Back To Back Highest Grosser Of Decade India
    ?> Salman–2
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–1
    |Winner_Salman|

    15) Top 2 Highest Grosser Of The Decade
    ?> Salman–0
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–1
    |Winner_Aamir|

    16) Top 10 Highest Grosser Of The Decade
    ?> Salman–9
    Shahrukh–7
    Aamir–6
    |Winner_Salman|

    17) Highest Grosser Of The Year
    ?> Salman–9
    Shahrukh–5
    Aamir–6
    |Winner_Salman|

    18) Top 2 Highest Grosser Of The Year
    ?> Salman–3
    Shahrukh–2
    Aamir–0
    |Winner_Salman|

    19) Top 3 Highest Grosser Of The Year
    ?> Salman–1
    Shahrukh–0
    Aamir–0
    |Winner_Salman|

    20) Back To Back Highest Grosser Of The Year
    ?> Salman–3
    Shahrukh–1
    Aamir–2
    |Winner_Salman|

    21) Highest Grosser Of The Year Worldwide
    ?> Salman–9
    Shahrukh–9
    Aamir–6
    |Tie Between Salman & Shahrukh|

    22) Top 2 Highest Grosser Of The Year Worldwide
    ?> Salman–2
    Shahrukh–3
    Aamir–0
    |Winner_Shahrukh|

    23) Current Highest Grosser Domestic
    ?> Salman–320 Cr*
    Shahrukh–208 Cr
    Aamir–337 Cr
    |Winner_Aamir|

    24) Current Highest Grosser Overseas
    ?> Salman–29.0 M*
    Shahrukh–22.8 M
    Aamir–45.6 M
    |Winner_Aamir|

    25) Current Highest Grosser Worldwide
    ?> Salman–626 Cr*
    Shahrukh–395 Cr
    Aamir–735 Cr
    |Winner_Aamir|

    26) Top 10 Grosser Domestic
    ?> Salman–3
    Shahrukh–2
    Aamir–3
    |Tie Between Salman & Aamir|

    ? Source :? BoxOfficeIndia.com

    ? Stats :? Salman_15
    Aamir_8
    Shahrukh_1
    Tie_2

    ? Note :? This Is My First Comment On Indicine. I Am Visiting Indicine From Past 6 Months And Enjoying Their Articles. But I Really Enjoy Other Visitors Comment & Specially The Fan War Between Salman Fans Like[Hrithik,TIGER- The Real King,Anand_The Original,Ultron A Salmanic,Navin,Myanmar Yangon,NVS,JS,Jay,Sarifa,Marshall,Rahul4ever,Rohitnene,Rakesh Roshan Satpathy, Bajrangi Bhushan,James,Armaan123,Salmanfan,BB WorldWide 600 Cr,Kalia,Dxt Namm,The Beast,etc] Shahrukh Fans Like[Aman,Challa,Sundar,Javed,Romance Dilwale_Fan,The Phenom,I Am SRKian,I Am AKN,SSS,I Am Fan,Haroonn1986,Hafeez,Bhai Ka Bhai,Fasal,Xzone,Fan The 500cr,Ranger,Fan PK,Pokemon,Damnnnnnnn,Sweet_Heart,Zeeshan Srk Fan etc] & Aamir Fans Like[Legend Aamir Khan,Rew1,Eric,David,DST,Shashank,Komal Nahi Nahata,Brat,Vikram Saini,AKF,Dark Horse,Dangal-Baap Of All Movies Next Year,etc] & Also There Is A Funny Character Named Azhar Who Always Awaiting For Upcoming Films.Love This Site
    But After Reading This Records Some Loyal Aamir Fans & All Shahrukh Fans Not Happy With Me.. Sorry In Advance If Anybody Is Hurt .

    ••••••••Thank You Very Much••••••••

    * * *

  • Amazing article it’s ridiculous to compare one star with other all have their unique style and aura.Maintaining your stardom for more than 2 decades isn’t something which can be achieved without hard work and talent.
    Srk will always be my favorite since he has a distinct charm in him which somewhat attracts you to him effortlessly.His off screen humor and his cult movies have catapulted him to unattainable heights.H will always be my biggest source of inspiration.Whenever you feel depressed you just have to watch any of his interviews and you will automatically have a smile on your face.
    Even though I love Srk but I don’t hate the other two Khans.
    Aamir’s movies have always made me introspect about various issues.I remember even my School Principal appreciated him for making TZP and said she was moved to tears after watching it.
    Salman’s movies if not all some of them are entertaining.In my childhood I only had to say I was going to watch a Salman movie to my parents and the permission would be given since he always makes movies for the family audiences.

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