Top 5 Actors in Bollywood – Box office battle

There has been a lot of discussion in the comments section as to who the Top 5 actors in Bollywood are at the moment. Most in the Singh Is King Box office collection topic were of the opinion that Akshay Kumar post Singh is King has gone past Shahrukh Khan as the King of Bollywood.

So we decided to do some research on the Top 5 actors in Bollywood and their last 5 movies. The actors included in the battle are Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.

The results were quite unexpected. A few things before we give you the numbers.

Some points to remember are, actors with more releases in recent times (Post 2006) have an advantage over actors whose movies released in say 2003. That is because of the mutliplexes that have come up all over the country and also the increase in the number of prints.

So Akshay Kumar has a much bigger advantage over Aamir Khan as Aamir’s 5th movie Dil Chahta Hai released in 2001, when there were hardly any multiplexes. Also dont forget the inflation!

Here are the number.

5. Salman Khan – Salman Khan is at Number 5. We havent taken God Tussi Great Ho into count as it has just released last week and its final gross is awaited. He mainly suffers because of Marigold, as it did less than 1 crore of business in India! Salman has just one Blockbuster i.e Partner.

• Jaan-E-Mann (2006) – 27 crores – Flop
• Babul (2006) – 17 crores – Flop
• Saalam-e-Ishq (2007) – 24 crores – Flop
• Partner (2007) – 62 crores – Blockbuster
• Marigold (2007) – 1 crore – Disaster

Total – 131 crores
Average – 26.2 crores per movie.

4. Aamir Khan – Aamir Khan although at a huge disadvantage is at Number 4. Imagine if Dil Chahta Hai had released today? It would have grossed atleast a minimum of 50 crores at the box office. Still since his come back the perfectionist has 2 Superhits and 1 Blockbuster to his credit.

• Dil Chahta Hai (2001) – 16 crores – Hit
• Mangal Pandey (2005) – 29 crores – Average
• Rang De Basanti (2006) – 51 crores – Super Hit
• Fanaa (2006) – 53 crores – Super Hit
• Taare Zameen Par (2007) – 61 crores – Blockbuster

Total – 210 crores
Average – 42 crores per movie.

3. Shahrukh Khan – Has been affected big time due to the failure of Paheli. It didnt even get a face saving opening at the box-office and did just 13 crores. Rest of his movies have done well. KANK and Don bearly managed to go on to be hits. Chak De and Om Shanti Om were blockbusters.

• Paheli (2005) – 13 crores – Flop
• Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006) – 46 crores – Above Average to Hit
• Don (2006) – 50 crores – Hit
• Chak De India (2007) – 64 crores – Blockbuster
• Om Shanti Om (2007) – 87 crores – Blockbuster

Total – 260 crores
Average – 52 crores per movie.

2. Akshay Kumar – Now this was a real toughie. But we decided to push Akshay Kumar down to second due to several reasons. He is the only star to not have a single solo ‘Blockbuster’ to his credit (Welcome was a multistarrer with Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Nan Patekar). Although we have included Singh Is King, it has not completed its complete run at the boxoffice. We had to predict the total nett gross of Singh Is Kinng to 72 crores (44 crores in week one is confirmed + 18 crores in week 2 is also confirmed + 6 crores in week 3 and about 4 crores in the rest of the weeks is a prediction). The other reason for placing him at second is he is the only actor who has the advantage of every movie releasing Post – 2006. No release in the Pre multiplex era of India Cinema.

• Heyy Babyy (2007) – 52 crores – Super hit
• Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) – 54 crores – Super hit
• Welcome (2007) – 76 crores – Blockbuster (Multistarrer)
• Tashan (2008) – 31 crores – Flop
• Singh Is King (2008) – 72 crores – Hit to Super hit

Total – 285 crores
Average – 57 crores per movie.

1. Hrithik Roshan – By far the youngest actor in the list, Hrithik Roshan by pure box office numbers of India, tops although by a very close margin. 2 solo blockbusters (KMG, Krrish), 1 multi star Blockbuster (Dhoom 2) and 1 Super hit (Jodha Akbar). His only failure in the last 4 years has been Lakshya which did average business at the boxoffice. A great comeback after about 6 failures in a row after Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai.

Hrithik also has two movies pre 2006 which is a disadvantage.

• Koi Mil Gaya (2003) – 44 crores – Super Hit
• Lakshya (2004) – 23 crores – Average
• Krrish (2006) – 66 crores – Blockbuster
• Dhoom 2 (2006) – 86 crores – Blockbuster
• Jodhaa Akbar (2008) – 63 crores – Super Hit

Total – 282 crores
Average – 56.4 crores per movie.

The whole list might change when Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Chandni Chowk To China release in December. SRK could make it to the top if Rab Ne works big time. How Chandni Chowk fares will also be interesting. Hrithik’s kites releases in the summer of 2009 and there is news that it could be sold for 100 crores if not more. Aamir Khan’s Ghajini too releases this year end and is expected to create boxoffice history.

We will post an update here after all the 3 movies; Rab Ne, Chandni Chowk and Ghajini release.

Note – These figures are only of how the movies fared at the Indian Box-office. Shahrukh Khan is the undisputed king of the overseas box-office. Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan come a close second and third.

Lets discuss below, if you dont agree with the article please post a comment on why. Thank you for reading.