Indian Express Most Powerful Bollywood personalities in 2013

Indian Express has released its list of ‘Most Powerful Indians’ and only 6 Bollywood celebrities have made it to the list.

Shahrukh Khan, who was ranked 91 last year, is the most powerful film personality. According to Indian Express, the reason for ranking SRK at number 52 is “Before one could say Ready, Steady, Po, his Chennai Express had raced past Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots and with a booty of Rs 227.13 crore it became SRK’s first ever 200+ film. 2013 will always be a memorable year for King Khan who stunned the world with his secret baby AbRam. His theme park business venture, Kidzania, also opened to thriving business in Mumbai. The television premiere of Chennai Express fetched Zee TV the highest TRP of the year at 9.5.”

Aamir Khan, retains his position as the second most powerful person in the film industry, as he sees his ranking rise from 62 to 55. Reason “Aamir Khan only competes with Aamir Khan. As Dhoom 3 rakes in Rs 284.27 crore and becomes the biggest all-time hit, Aamir retains his position as Mr Blockbuster. He is the only actor with two films in the 200-crore club. So confident was he about Dhoom 3 that he launched no publicity blitzkrieg and didn’t appear on any reality show to promote the movie”

Salman Aamir SRK Aditya Chopra

Ranked at 74, the third most powerful movie personality is Yash Raj Films’ head Aditya Chopra “As the producer of Dhoom 3, he is the man who made the most money in Bollywood last year. He has become something of an urban legend — he never entertains any media query, never makes an appearance at any company event, yet is the single most powerful producer in town. As a tribute to his late father Yash Chopra, he organised a special event where SRK walked the ramp with Yash Chopra’s leading ladies — Rekha, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukherji, Preity Zinta, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra.”

Salman Khan, the most powerful Bollywood star last year, has dropped down the list from as high as 39 to 77 this year. He was missing from the silver screen in 2013. “His stint as host of Bigg Boss 7 turned out to be the most successful and controversial season for broadcaster Colors. His one worded “yes” on Koffee with Karan to Karan Johar’s question of whether he is a virgin, is quote-quip-joke of the year, all rolled in one. Though his own film Jai Ho was releasing, he went on promote Aamir Khan’s Dhoom 3 on Bigg Boss. Aamir has gone on record to say that Salman’s promotion was a big factor in getting people interested in his film.”

The only director (apart from Aditya Chopra, of course, who directs one film every 6-8 years) is Rohit Shetty, who is ranked just below Salman at No 78. “For long, Rohit Shetty was just known as the guy who blows up cars in films that he makes for buddy Ajay Devgn. But with the stupendous success of Chennai Express after the Golmaal franchise, Bol Bachchan and Singham, Shetty has emerged as the only director with four 100 crore+ grossers.He takes over as the host of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 5 after Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra.”

Finally, we have Ranbir Kapoor at No 99. He had a mixed 2013 with one blockbuster in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and one disaster Besharam. His ranking has actually dropped from 95 to 99 “With his eclectic cinema choices, Ranbir has cracked the right balance between the commercial blockbuster and the creative film experience. The Rs 19.45 crore of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Rs 20 crore day one of Besharam are his personal best.”

What do you think of the list? No Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone or Karan Johar. The usual suspects, the Khans, are the most powerful. Aditya Chopra, ahead of Salman Khan, is debatable though!