A lot has changed since the last Top 5 actors list that we published in September 2013. Quite a few big films like Besharam, Boss, Ram Leela, R.. Rajkumar and of course the two blockbusters Krrish 3 and Dhoom 3 released in the last 3 months of the year. The failure of Besharam has pushed Ranbir, who was previously in the Top 3, lower down the list. Akshay Kumar is out of the Top 5, as BOSS under-performed at the box office.

• This list would be based on the approximate box office outcome (Nett collections) of their last five movies
• Only lead roles would be considered. Cameos, special appearances and guest appearances won’t be taken under consideration
• Dated movies won’t be taken under consideration
• Only domestic box office performance is being taken into account

Top Actors In Bollywood

1. Salman hasn’t had a release in 2013, but no other ‘superstar’ has managed to come close, even though Aamir now has two 200 crore grossers! That pretty much sums up how consistent Salman has been in the last 3 years or so — 5 back-to-back record-breaking blockbusters in a row, with the total collections of his last 5 movies adding up to a mind-boggling figure of Rs 762 crore.

His first film in more than a year, Jai Ho, releases this month. And unless it fails miserably and collects less than 70 crore, Salman will continue to be the top star at the domestic box office.

He also has the keenly awaited Eid release ‘Kick’ which is expected to challenge the records set by Dhoom 3.

2. Dhoom 3, which is now the highest grosser of all time, has taken Aamir Khan to the second spot. Not only has the actor overtaken Shahrukh Khan at the domestic box office, but has also challenged his supremacy in the overseas markets.

His upcoming release – Rajkumar Hirani’s P.K is expected to be yet another sure-shot 200 crore grosser – and if it does, it could well be yet another mega battle between the three Khans for the top spot in 2014.

3. The super-success of Chennai Express took Shahrukh Khan to the second spot, but with Dhoom 3 breaking all records, SRK has dropped down the list. The superstar has ‘Happy New Year’ releasing this Diwali and Maneesh Sharma’s FAN that is expected to release in December this year. It’ll be interesting to see if the two films can take SRK to the top spot.

4. For the first time since we started ranking the actors, Hrithik Roshan makes it to the Top 5 with the Hindi version of Krrish 3 collecting Rs 233 crore at the domestic box office.

Hrithik has an out-an-out commercial film Bang Bang, also starring Katrina Kaif, lined up for release this year. While he’s unlikely to challenge the Khans, he could get pretty close to the Top 3 by the end of the year.

Since Bang Bang is expected to release before Happy New Year, the film would need to collect Rs 169 crore or more for Hrithik to beat SRK and take the 3rd spot.

5. Besharam was expected to take a good start at the box office and it did, what with the film collecting close to Rs 20 crore on its opening day. But the response was so bad that the film ended with lifetime business of less than 60 crore. It was arguably the worst received biggie of the year, as even a film like Himmatwala held up better over the weekend.

Ranbir has two releases this year – Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos and Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet, which is scheduled to release during Christmas 2014. It could well be a battle between him and Akshay Kumar for the 5th spot this year, as the latter has A.R. Murugadoss’ Holiday releasing in the first half of 2014.

Actors who can break into the Top 5 in the next few months

• Akshay Kumar – Boss (59 cr), Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobaara (63 cr), Special 26 (70 cr), Khiladi 786 (71 cr), Rowdy Rathore (133 cr). [Fortchoming film: Holiday] - Total: 396 cr (Average per film: 79.2 cr)
• John Abraham – (Madras Café (45 cr), Shootout at Wadala (62 cr), I, Me aur Main (9 cr), Race 2 (102 cr), Housefull 2 (114 cr)) [Forthcoming film: Welcome Back] - Total: 332 cr (Average per film: 66.4 cr)
• Ajay Devgn – (Satyagraha (63 cr), Himmatwala (45 cr), Son of Sardaar (102 cr), Bol Bachchan (101 cr), Tezz (17 cr)) [Forthcoming film: Action Jackson] - Total: 328 cr (Average per film: 65.6 cr)
• Saif Ali Khan – Bullet Raja (36 cr), Race 2 (102 cr), Cocktail (76 cr), Agent Vinod (45 cr), Aarakshan (42 cr) [Forthcoming film: Happy Ending / Humshakals] - Total: 301 cr (Average per film: 60.2 cr)
• The average collections of Shahid Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi and Imran Khan is way too low at this stage. But Shahid’s last release R.. Rajkumar did very well at the box office, so he too, along with Emraan (who is going through a career low), could make it to the Top 5 in the next few years.