The last time we ranked the Top 15 stars in the industry, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan were ranked right at the top. That has changed after the release of two big films like Bang Bang and Happy New Year. The bottom of the list has changed a little too.

We have decided to make our ranking system the most comprehensive in the industry. We will be analysing the box office collections of the Top 15 actors. The ranking system will also be divided into three; Top Actor in India, Overseas and Worldwide. The list below is for the Top 15 Actors in India i.e the domestic market only.

• The list would be based on the net box office collections of an actor’s last five movies. For younger actors, the minimum number of films is 3.
• Only lead roles would be considered. Cameos, special appearances and guest appearances won’t be taken under consideration. Non-commercial and art films like ‘Dhobi Ghat’ have also not been considered.
• Dated movies that released before 2007 have not been considered.
• Only domestic box office collections is being taken into account. Collections from all regional versions have been taken into considering as this list is for the top actors in India and regional language releases affect Hindi business in their respective states. For example, Tamil version will affect business of Hindi version in Tamilnadu / Kerala circuit.

Top Actors In Bollywood

Rank 1. The average collections of Salman Khan’s last five films has gone up from 152 cr to nearly 170 crore per film! The superstar is quite clearly way ahead of the competition in the domestic markets and has dominated the box office in India like no other actor in the history of Indian Cinema. Salman now has one 200 crore grosser (nearly two because Ek Tha Tiger collected 199 cr). His success ratio is incredible too  - all his films since Dabangg (2010) have done well. His blockbuster ratio is even better – 6 out of 7 films have been blockbusters or all time blockbusters!

Rank 2. Happy New Year had to collect Rs 260 crore or more for Shahrukh Khan to topple Salman Khan right at the top of the list. The film ended up with lifetime collections of around 205 crore (still running), enough to ensure that he goes past Aamir Khan at the domestic box office. SRK also became the first actor to deliver two back-to-back 200 crore grossers. His average per film has also significantly risen from 131 to 158.2 crore. The superstar’s forthcoming releases are Maneesh Sharma’s Fan and Rahul Dholakia’s Raees.

Rank 3. Aamir Khan is ranked at No 3, not because his films have performed badly, but because he does very few films. Since we take the last 5 films into account, his fifth last release is Taare Zameen Par which released in theatres in 2007. He could take the top spot if Rajkumar Hirani’s PK collects 157 cr or more, and will most certainly reclaim his second spot from Shahrukh Khan. No actor has come close to Salman in India in the last three years, but Aamir has every chance of taking the top spot by the end of 2014. PK releases in theatres on December 19 2014.

Rank 4. The release of Bang Bang temporarily took Hrithik ahead of SRK at the domestic box office, but before Bang Bang finished its run, Happy New Year had already released in theatres. Hrithik’s average of 133 cr is fantastic, comparable to the Khans even though he doesn’t always get to release his films during Eid, Diwali or Christmas. To elaborate a little more on this, out of the last 5 films, all SRK films have released during one of the three festivals, except Jai Ho all Salman films have released during the three most lucrative periods in the industry and Aamir Khan too has preferred to release his films during Christmas (all except Talaash). Hrithik got just one Diwali release for Krrish 3 and made the most of it. He will be missing from action in 2015, as his next release is Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjodaro (Jan 2016).

Rank 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. If he has to beat Hrithik, his next film would have to collect Rs 239 crore!

Rank 6: Action Jackson has to collect Rs 118 crore or more for Ajay Devgn to go past Ranbir Kapoor and make it to the Top 5 for the first time in his career. His decision to opt for masala-entertainers over hard-hitting class-oriented films has paid rich dividends as the actor has a much larger audience base in the last few years. Action Jackson releases in the first week of December.

• Singham Returns (139 cr)
• Satyagraha (62 cr)
• Himmatwala (45 cr)
• Son of Sardaar (102 cr)
• Bol Bachchan (101 cr)
• Forthcoming film: Action Jackson
• Total: 449 cr (Average per film: 89.8 cr)

Rank 7 Akshay Kumar: He does more than 3 films every year, yet averages 76 cr per film. Akshay has films like Gabbar, Singh Is Bling and Warrior which could take him to the Top 5. So far, he was competing with Ajay Devgn for the 6th spot, but the latter has overtaken him with the release of Singham Returns. Do note that ‘The Shaukeens’ didn’t feature Akshay Kumar in the lead.

• Entertainment – 72 cr
• Holiday: A Solider Is Never Off Duty – 113 cr
• Boss – 59 cr
• Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobaara – 63 cr
• Special 26 – 69 cr
• Fortchoming film: Gabbar
• Total Collections: 376 cr (Average per film: 75.2 cr)

Rank 8 Sidharth Malhotra: Quickly emerging as one of the most popular stars in the country, Sidharth Malhotra commands a huge following on social media websites like Twitter and Facebook. His last release, Ek Villain, was a huge success at the box office. He deserves credit even though the presence of Mohit Suri as director, Ritiesh Deshmukh and chartbuster music helped big time.

• Ek Villain - 103 cr
• Hasee Toh Phasee - 35 cr
• Student Of The Year - 70 cr
• Forthcoming film - Bhavesh Joshi
• Total Collections – 208 cr (Average per film: 69.3 cr)

Rank 9 Varun Dhawan: We said it after Main Tera Hero, we say it again. Varun is one of the most promising stars in the industry, a superstar in the making. In just 3 films, he has established himself in the industry. A film like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, released 2 weeks before Salman Khan’s Kick and during the Ramadan period, has collected nearly 80 cr at the domestic box office. Huge!

• Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania – 77 cr
• Main Tera Hero - 54 cr
• Student Of The Year - 70 cr
• Forthcoming film: Badlapur
• Total Collections – 201 cr (Average per film: 67 cr)

Rank 10 John Abraham: John is no longer a solo star. Multi-starrers like Race 2 and Housefull 2 are his biggest grossers. In an ensemble star cast like the upcoming Welcome Back, he is still a force to be reckoned with.

• 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 Collections – 332 cr (Average per film: 66.4 cr)

Rank 11 Saif Ali Khan: Fairly popular with audience in big cities, but has absolutely no following in smaller towns. He has been consistent over the years, but relies too heavily on other factors like trailer, music and director to bring audience to theatres.

• Humshakals - 63 cr
• Bullet Raja- 36 cr
• Race 2 - 102 cr
• Cocktail - 76 cr
• Agent Vinod - 45 cr
• Forthcoming film - Happy Ending
• Total - 322 cr (Average per film: 64.4 cr)

Rank 12 Arjun Kapoor: The box office performance of an off-beat film like Finding Fanny hasn’t affected his standing in the industry. He could drop down a position in the list after Ranveer’s Kill Dil finishes its run, but Tevar should do him good. The film has received a positive response in the trade and should open very well at mass centres.

• Finding Fanny –  cr
• 2 States - 102 cr
• Gunday - 78 cr
• Aurangzeb - 23 cr
• Ishaqzaade - 49 cr
• Forthcoming film - Tevar
• Total Collections – 287 cr (Average per film: 57.4 cr)

Rank 13 Ranveer Singh: The poor opening of Kill Dil could affect him, but it should also take Ranveer higher up the list. The film needs to collect 66 crore for Ranveer to beat Saif Ali Khan and rank at No 11. He would make it to the Top 10 if Kill Dill collects 76 crore or more.

• Gunday – 78 cr
• Ram Leela - 109 cr
• Lootera - 31 cr
• Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl - 38 cr
• Band Baaja Baaraat - 24 cr
• Forthcoming film - Kill Dil
• Total Collections - 280 cr (Average per film: 56 cr)

Rank 14 Shahid Kapoor: The critically and commercial success of Haider has helped Shahid Kapoor go one spot up in the ranking. He sneaks ahead of Emraan Hashmi.

• Haider – 58 cr
• R.. Rajkumar - 65 cr
• Phata Poster Nikhla Hero - 39 cr
• Teri Meri Kahaani - 29 cr
• Mausam - 33 cr
• Forthcoming film - Shaandar
• Total Collections – 224 cr (Average per film: 44.8 cr)

Rank 15 Emraan Hashmi: The disastrous performance of Raja Natwarlal at the box office earlier this year has pushed Emraan right to the bottom of the list. He awaits the release of Dharma Productions’ Ungli which is the last release of November 2014.

• Raja Natwarlal – 27 cr
• Ghanchakkar - 39 cr
• Ek Thi Daayan - 27 cr
• Jannat 2 - 54 cr
• Raaz 3 - 74 cr
• Forthcoming film - Ungli
• Total collections - 221 cr (Average per film: 44.2 cr)

Even after 20 plus years, the Khans – Salman, Aamir, SRK – still dominate the industry and are by far the most dependable stars. Hrithik has always been in the Top 5 since he made his debut in 2000. He temporarily took the top spot in 2006, but was pushed back after the release of Kites and Guzaarish. Ranbir is the most popular actor amongst the newer bunch of actors who made their debut after 2006. The likes of Ranveer, Varun, Sidharth and Arjun are the stars to watch out for in the future. Akshay and Ajay will continue to churn out 3-4 films every year. Akshay has a strong lineup, Ajay has Rohit Shetty!

The list will be updated after the release of Happy Ending, Ungli, Action Jackson and PK.

We will also be publishing the ‘Top Bollywood Actors in the overseas markets’ and also the worldwide ranking.