List by film critic and trade analyst Joginder Tuteja

Continuing our two-monthly feature, here is the updated list of Top 5 Actors in Bollywood

• 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

Despite having no release in the year gone by, Salman Khan still stays on the top. Reason being that the sum total of collections generated from his last five films has not yet been surpassed by any other superstar.

This would stay on till year end too since 762 cr is a huge number to be surpassed. Moreover with Mental / Azaad coming in the month of January next year, expect the gap to be further widened.

With ‘Chennai Express’ turning out to be an enormous blockbuster, Shahrukh has narrowed the gap between him and Salman to a good extent. Still, there is a shortfall of over 100 crore.

Considering the fact that Shahrukh would have lesser number of releases in months to come (as of now he is only doing ‘Happy New Year’), it would be some time before he takes a big shot at the Numero Uno spot. Still, the gap between him and the number three in the list is pretty big.

Courtesy his largely consistent run over the years, Ranbir Kapoor stays on to his Number 3 spot. However he can’t afford to take it easy since his he would need to demonstrate this in months to come as well, what with ‘Besharam’ arriving next. If Ranbir has to beat Shahrukh for the second spot, Besharam would have to collect Rs 233 crore at the domestic box office! Think it is possible?

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan is now ready with his next biggie ‘Dhoom 3’. While it is a given that the film will be huge, ‘how huge’ is what would make Aamir rush past the Number 3 spot and possibly go even higher.

Both from collections as well as average perspective, Aamir is quite close to Ranbir which means ‘Besharam’ vs ‘Dhoom 3’ battle holds all the more significance. For example, if Besharam collects around 140 crore at the box office, then Dhoom 3 would have to collect just 127 crore for Aamir to go past Ranbir and take the No 3 spot. Aamir also has a chance to go past Shahrukh Khan. For that to happen, Dhoom 3 needs to collect Rs 221 crore or more at the box office. Doing so will also give Aamir a great chance of ending the year with the highest grosser! The top spot looks way beyond reach, as D3 has to collect 341 crore for Aamir to go past Salman – which just goes to show how incredibly consistent Salman has been over the last 3 years or so.

Big money was put on ‘Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobaara’ and despite the film not doing well, Akshay has moved on fast. Fortunately for him, none of the other actors (who are below him in the box office ranking) could score a biggie in the last two months due to which there was no threat whatsoever.

With ‘Boss’ round the corner, he could well be assured of a comfortable position in the Top-5 for some more time to come. However Hrithik Roshan is pretty much arriving full throttle with ‘Krrish 3’, hence narrowing the gap with Akshay as far as collections earned in last five films is concerned.

If Akshay has to go past Aamir to take the 4th spot, Boss would have to collect 148 crore or more.

The ones who can break into Top-5 in months to come:

• Hrithik Roshan – (Agneepath (120 cr), Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara (90 cr), Guzaarish (30 cr), Kites (49 cr), Jodhaa Akbar (63 cr) [Forthcoming film: Krrish 3] - Total: 352 cr (Average per film: 70.4 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 (65 cr – Expected), Himmatwala (45 cr), Son of Sardaar (102 cr), Bol Bachchan (101 cr), Tezz (17 cr)) [Forthcoming film: Action Jackson] - Total: 330 cr (Average per film: 66 cr)
• Saif Ali Khan – (Race 2 (102 cr), Cocktail (76 cr), Agent Vinod (45 cr), Aarakshan (42 cr), Kurbaan (24 cr)) [Forthcoming film: Bullett Raja] - Total: 289 cr (Average per film: 57.8 cr)

Disclaimer: There can be many other scientific, non-scientific, objective and subjective measures chosen. We wanted to keep it simple though!

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder