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.
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)
dabangg was of this decade.
Megastar Salman will rule for more than ten years……
srk from 1992 , salman from 2010 n aamir from 2008…ruling bollywood…..
I love srk and salman..about amir i like his movies..but i dont like him..that doesent mean i hate him..how can i hate some who dosent even aware of my existence..any way all three khans are legends..and i dont know who come 1st and who comes 3rd al 3 are above all ranking..just my opinion..btw good article indicine..love your site..thanks..
THEY Are power of Bollywood .
AAMIR PK EARN :700CR+
SALMAN KHAN : 600CR+
SRK:HIS 5 Films in top overseas ..
So they are kings. and i hope they will entertain us in everyfilm.
Out of the 3 khans
megastar salman is giving big hits with least advantages
He is the best followed by aamir khan. Teesra khan is a bakwaas
Very nice article…..
If Shahrukh is badshah then Salman is shahenshah….but legend is only one Khan…… Non other than aamir khan….
Talking about retirement For srk max 2 to 5 yr but for aamir n Salman max 8 to 10 yr….
Still khans r rocks….
Shahrukh will rule for next 3 years , Salman for next 10 years and Aamir will rule forever until he himself takes retirement as aamir has best script sense and content always rules ? .
I THINK MORE THAN 10 YEARS ALL THREE OF THEM WILL RULE THOUGH NUMBER OF MOVIES CAN DECREASE!!!
Bollywood is depending only 3 KHANS from their debutant year…..
1.Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak(1988-AAMIR KHAN)
2.Maine Pyer Kia(1989-SALMAN KHAN)
3.Deewana(1992-SHAHRUKH KHAN)..
On what basis u guys are saying 3 khans have dominated past 2 decades..there is only one who ruled last 2 decades and he is King Khan SHAH RUKH KHAN…don’t ever try to compare other khans with SRK..SRK has given us cult classic films which ur bhojpuri star can only dream of…kuch 4 saalon me BB,ATBB dene se koi bada aur respected star nahi ban jaata..u have to have films like Swades,CDI,Darr,Bazigar,KHKN,KHNH,DDLJ,MNIK,Dil Se,KKHH,Devdas these are the films that makes u Superstar…so do judge them on their films and audience love for these films..no one remembers films like bodyguard,dabbang 2,ready,Kick,wanted which were BB…aamir,Salman started their career in 2010 with south remakes usse pehle Disaster,Flop hi de rahe the dono both both quality wise and collection ..
@indicine put facts in front of these Salmir fans instead of spreading false news that don’t make sense at all..u cannot spread false news just to please these salmir fans..I must say u guys are getting highly biased towards these other 2 khans..this is not the right way of reporting..u could have said salmir got themselves back on track in last 5 years but u r saying they are dominating last two decades that don’t make sense at all..Unbelievable
now everybody should stop hating SRk that he need yash raj, dharma indicne clear the doubt…Badsaha of bollywood…Sha rukh khan..indicne aapne tu kya bat kahi hai..thanks indicine…
Baadshah Shahrukh enjoys the image of an eternal romantic superstar
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.
Aamir and Salman on top of cover. Srk below them both. Even Outlook knows every Khan’s place well.
SRK and aamir will last longer as they are better actors. Salman will last as long as he has the looks
Bound by a common surname and super stardom, the Khans have today become brand material, controlling every aspect of the film industry and adapting themselves to its changing face — FilmFare
i would like to congrats our srkian @SSS@javed..@sakhi and many more
Baadshah Shahrukh enjoys the image of an eternal romantic superstar
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.
None
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Hrithik means
No.1 in Acting?No.1 Actor of Hindi Cinema
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No.1 in Dance?Great Dancer Of Hindi Cinema
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No.1 Complete Actor?Probably one n only Complete actor of Hindi Cinema
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No.1 in looks?Most handsome man of Hindi Cinema or Handsome list start with his name always
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No.1 in Physique?he has most fit physique in Hindi Cinema including young stars but he is a source of inspiration
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No.1 at box office?Now-a-days Tiniest stars like Khans who are going biggest blockbusters only due to EDX (EidDeepawaliXmas) holidays or Khans are EDX made Tiniest Stars or there is no Big Stars today who has power to give biggest blockbusters without EDX holidays whereas Hrithik is probably an only actor who has power to give biggest blockbusters with or without EDX holidays.
I am a SRK fan , and have said enough about SRK . Let me talk about Aamir and Salman :
Aamir films that I liked :
1. Sarfarosh
2. Lagaan
3. Rang De Basanti
4. 3 Idiots
Salman films that I liked :
1. Sajaan
2. Tere Naam
3. Dabangg
4. Bajrangi Bhaijaan
We all know SRK is the worst actor in Khan trio.
SRK is just a PR and media made star,he is nothing without these.No one respects SRK in the industry.
Indicine – was abhishek verma the writer of that ” dabangg is bigger than 3 idiots article” ?
best comment of indicine
SaAaSha KhAn
I’ll never follow what others do, I never have, I never will – Akshay Kumar
he do everything in his own style ,completetly different from other stars …! ?
BT all khans nd others r smiliar to each other …no uniqueness …sb bkws
Posting shits man
When was the last time sarook gave an ATBB….LOL not even in the last decade but the decade before that.
1. Aamir
2. Salman
Who cares about Teesra Local Kingu Khan!!!
Brilliant Article..
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning is very important and no body understands it better than 3 Khans..
One word..Ghantaa..i mean yrf was always a big banner i mean since amitji days..how can you even say that indicine..
@INDICINE: Nice Article. I can see such articles only on INDICINE. BTW i have one request.
In many of ur articles i have seen. Plz don’t mention it as ‘Indian Cinema’ when the article is about only ‘Hindi cinema’. I love hindi movies very much and I am huge fan of all the Khans. But when we talk about Indian cinema it has other industries also. So when u r comparing only Hindi stars it is not good to mention it as Indian cinema. Though it is not a big thinhg we should recognize other industries also particularly when they r making quality movies.
Very good article Indicine. Keep it up
Each Khan is unique in his own style. We should appricaite all the three Khans.
The second point about the banners is not good as they are underestimating the directors and producers.Head of Yrf was Yash Chopra and he began with sone other actor than Srk and Ashutosh Gowarikar??? SRK gave a flop like Swades with him also Vivah was a success