Is Salman Khan the undisputed No 1?

His last failure was way back in January 2010. Since then, Salman Khan has relentlessly delivered back-to-back blockbusters.

  • Dabangg – 140 crores
  • Ready – 121 crores (non-festive release)
  • Bodyguard – 145 crores
  • Total – 406 crores (average of 135 crores per film)

Those are staggering numbers, but what those figures don’t tell you is that, Salman Khan has been lucky enough to get the ‘perfect release’ for each of his films including the upcoming Ek Tha Tiger, which releases during an extended weekend of 6 days (including the holiday for EID on Monday)

To add to the ‘perfect release’, there is no denying the fact that Salman Khan has played it safe. In a recent interview, Khan, talking about his position as the numero uno star in the country, said “It’s a very dangerous position to be in. I don’t know what to do in my next film. If the script is full on action, I think, again an action film. If it is romance, I wonder if it will do well right after an action film.”

With action-masala films all the rage at the box-office, Salman has persisted with that genre and that’s unlikely to change in the future too – apart from Sooraj Barjatya’s next which is likely to release in 2014.

His films are faring better than the rest, but to say Salman is way ahead of the rest , would be wrong. Infact, his contemporaries, aren’t too far behind.

  • Aamir Khan – 3 Idiots surpassed the 200 crore mark, when no other film (apart from his own Ghajini of course) had even touched 100 crores. The 202 crore figure still stands tall. Like Salman said recently “It’s a shame that no film has managed to beat 3 Idiots in 3 years”. The blind faith that the audience have in ‘brand Aamir’ plays a major role too. With Dhoom 3, every standing record will be broken and probably the 250 – 300 crore mark too.
  • Hrithik Roshan – The dark and gory Agneepath broke the Bodyguard record and managed 120 crore+ even though it didn’t hold much appeal towards the family audience. As for those crediting Katrina Kaif’s item number for the success of Agneepath, wait for Krrish 3!
  • Shahrukh Khan – A rejected film like Ra One, which dropped even before the end of it’s first weekend, did business of 120 crores+ (including hindi version). Don 2, with limited appeal towards single-screen audience, did close to 115 crores. Give SRK a well-made film, with universal appeal and the 3 Idiots record will be in danger. And we aren’t even talking about overseas business here.
  • Akshay Kumar – Rowdy Rathore did 131 crores – 10 more than Ready, which had a similar release and 10 short of Bodyguard, without an extended weekend release. Akshay isn’t too far behind, is he?

The point of the article is not to say, Salman isn’t the top star in the industry today. He is. Just that, the other names mentioned above are all equally capable of delivering a ‘festive blockbuster’ with a perfectly timed release.

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136 Comments

  • Very good article and to the point. I also believe the same. If any actor from those that you mentioned are given the right release, their film will break records.

    Yes, Salman films might do well in single screen interiors.. but then SRK, Hrithik or Aamir film will do better at multiplexes. So it all balances out in the end.

    I will break down the list of top stars

    At multiplexes its Aamir, SRK, Hrithik, Salman, Akshay.

    At single screen its Salman, Akshay, Aamir, SRK, Hrithik.

    Overseas SRK, Aamir, Hrithik, Salman, Akshay.

  • The only thing is that salman releases most of his movies on holiday weekend thats why he is at top.
    Where as others stars had to face competition after one or two weeks.
    And the most irritating part is that salman fan’s all the time boast with the records like hell. Of course movies are expected to break huge records when the movie is set to release on holiday week end.
    So its not a big deal that salman is no.1.

  • I havent still understood why Aamir is not considered the biggest star today, when noone has even come close to 200 crores. Why is the media so biased? Even with the most commercial films and 6 day weekends Salman can’t break 3 Idiots record. How is he the top star?

  • I would love to see some Salman Khan fan make some sensible comment here. It’s only ‘salman rocks’ ‘ETT will do 350 crores’ and ‘ETT will be creating history’.

    These are the only comments I have been reading from Salman fans on every page. It was the same with Veer, Dabangg or Bodyguard.

    If you have a point to make, put it across sensibly or dont!! Atleast dont keep repeating the same things.

  • @shahid yes salman does not face any competion and this make him biggest star because no body wants to release their films with salman film that,s make him the biggest star of bollywood

  • Please..Indicine !!….Has salman bhai has ever said that he is number 1 or he is far ahead than other actors ??…So whats the point writing such articles..Bhai never says he is no.1 ..But he says htat i dont believe in such thing or so called numbers….He always says i dont mind calling myself calling on 5oth number on that numbers list…So dont write such articles or if u want 2 write then write some logical articles..Ok.

  • @SALMAN BHAI FAN… Salman said on Dance India Dance that he’s No 1.. he also asked Mithunda to say the same. Even in other ETT promotional interviews he has been saying he’s the biggest star.

  • Salman Khan may be on his career high these days. But definitely he is NOT the undisputed king of bollywood. All those actors you have mentioned have the capability of breaking records.

    Salman is doing similar kind of movies;action masala. No variety in his movies. Remember, Akshay used to do back to back comedy movies couple of years back & audience got fed up with it and started to reject. Same will happen to Salman, if he doesn’t change his choice of movies.

  • Salman is following a simple formula – action, hit songs, top heroine, extended weekend release. Result? Terrible film, box office blockbuster.

    Akshay did the same with Rowdy Rathore and got same success.

  • cutie rocky@. S salman is the bigest star. Bt he hasnt told hmself as the no.1. . . In DID, has he said hmself ?

  • Very good article Indicine, but I would like to mention that even actors such as Ajay, Saif, Emraan, Shahid, Ranbir and Imran, if they are given a film with a universal appeal with a festive release date, even they would be able to do the same business as Hrithik, Salman, SRK, Aamir and Akshay. Though Salman is a legend in every right, the other actors also deserve the much needed credit that they don’t always recieve (especially Ajay, Emraan, Saif and Shahid-who are usually always underrated). For example, Ranbir, Imran, Saif and Emraan haven’t received a film that would have a universal appeal, however, Shahid had Kaminey way back in 2009. Now, if you look at the prospects, if it was released today on let’s say Eid or Diwali, the film would’ve collected over 125 crores. Because, without releasing in a couple of states for the first week (piracy also damaged the business in those states in the coming weeks) and having an ‘A’ rating, the film still generated 45 crores. Now if it had a proper release back then, it would’ve collected 65 crores plus. Now, if you adjust the ticket prices and make it a big holiday release, it would’ve been a 100 crore affair. Although Ajay has delivered 100 crore grossers such as Golmaal 3, Singham and Bol Bachchan, he rarely gets the due credit. Not to insult anyones opinion, because Salman, SRK, Aamir, Hrithik and Akshay are huge legends in their own right, I really think its high time Bollywood stops banking only on the Khan’s, Kumar’s and Roshan’s and give other senior actors such as Ajay and Saif and the younger generation of Shahid, Ranbir, Emraan and Imran and also the newcomers such as Ayushman, Arjun, Ali and the yet to debuts Siddharth and Varun a chance to. Indicine, what do you think?

  • Salman Khan is undoubtedly one of the worst actors in bollywood. 3 movies of his that became superhits are just plain nonsense. He can’t “Act” at all. People, grow up. Comparing his movies to quality like 3 idiots is such a shame. Look at hollywood, at least they release meaningful films, that have a genuine appeal worldwide. Such cheap movies become superhits, it clearly proves that indian audience’ s IQ is low internationally.

  • guys. . Haha. . Eventhough salman haters hate him more bt dey love watch n read muV n news posts. . Dis shows the popularity of salman. . Luk 8 commnts in this post , ITs firing either bad or gud. . Dis means Al r eagier to knw abt salman, his muV . . Wow. . Dats gud. . .

  • @ramesh, that does not make him the biggest star. If suppose tusshar is releasing his movie on eid and he is not facing any competition, would u say that he is the biggest super star?

    The thing salman is maintaining his position by releasing most of his movies on holiday weekends.
    But that does not make him a big star.

    Tomorrow any other super star like srk,hrithik,amir,akshay can take over salman just by releasing on holiday weekend.

    So u can’t exactly say that he is the biggest super star.

  • INDICINE@ D DAY U LEAVE TO POST ABOUT SALMAN, 60 PERCENT READERS WILL LEAVE 2 VISIT DIS PAGE. .MARK MY WORD. . U CAN TRY BY POSTIN D NOTICE. . . N U WIL FEEL THAT D END OF DIS SITE. . .REALLY. . MARK MY WORD

  • Salman khan’s film are a event..
    When was ready released ?
    Compare it with don 2 and ra.one..
    Not during the festive and still collected more…
    And aamir khan ..we will see what he can collect with dhoom 3 and taalash..
    And 250-300 crore ?lol joke…:D
    let the year and we once agen will decide whos number 1..cool?

  • Is it salmans fault that nobody has the gut to bring a film in eid ?
    We will do it agen in 2013..
    And every big film always ends up being released in festive season..you want examples?

  • @indicine.com..
    Market is growing every year..
    If yu have to compare business than you should compare of similar year …not of last and next year..
    After the year ends..compare business of ETT and dabang 2 and srk film and talassh and akshay films…that would make sense…!

  • @Somebody, Ajay needs to deliver a HIT without Rohit Shetty. His other release this year, Tezz, didn’t even get a decent opening. Ranbir, well, his popularity is limited to multiplexes. He isn’t quite in the same league as the Top 5. Saif again, his films don’t do well at single-screens, which rules out any chances of a big grosser.

    Shahid, Emraan, Imran and the rest.. have to first get to 10-12 crores on a non-festive Friday release. Shahid’s Teri Meri Kahaani didn’t even manage half of that – 5 crores simply ain’t good enough today, when films like Kya Super Kool Hai Hum and Jism 2 are touching 8 crores on Day 1.

  • @Indicine, but that’s what I mean, because Shahid, Emraan, Imran, Ranbir and Saif don’t get and universally appealing films (Multiplexes and Single Screens). If they did and it was released on a festive holiday, then I am sure that they would have record breaking collections on the first day depending on the film. I agree on your point about Ajay though.

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