The analysis of the top stars in the overseas markets is finally live. The market that Shahrukh Khan has dominated for more than a decade, finally has a worthy contender to challenge him for the top spot.
Post the worldwide success of 3 Idiots, Aamir Khan has not just been challenging SRK but consistently breaking his records. Currently, Aamir holds the records for two of the highest overseas grossers in history – Dhoom 3 ($30.75 million) and 3 Idiots ($25.9 million).
As things stand today, the battle between Aamir and Shahrukh is too close to call, but the latter takes the top spot. The two superstars have two big releases this year, Happy New Year and PK.
- The list below would be based on the gross box office collections of an actor’s last five movies. To keep the comparison fair, all figures are in US dollars.
- 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.
- We have only included 8 actors in the list because the rest are not bankable stars overseas. The likes of Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra, with a couple of solid overseas performers behind them, are emerging as stars to watch out for. Currently, it’s unfair to include them in the list.
Rank 1 Shahrukh Khan: An actor who has dominated the overseas markets for close to 20 years continues to be the top superstar internationally. However, the battle between him and Aamir is getting closer with every release. Will Shahrukh continue to reign supreme after Happy New Year? Only time will tell, but the superstar is going all out to promote his film with international tours. Come Diwali, Happy New Year would have to collect a minimum of $22.35 million if SRK has to retain the top spot.
- Chennai Express – $18.8 million
- Jab Tak Hai Jaan – $13.25 million
- Don 2 – $11.25 million
- Ra. One – $10.9 million
- My Name Is Khan – $22.98 million
- Total – $77.18 million (average $15.44 million per film)
Rank 2 Aamir Khan: Has established himself in the overseas markets after the release of 3 Idiots. He is the numero uno star in China, what with both Dhoom 3 and 3 Idiots doing very well. PK is one of the most awaited films overseas and has the potential to break the records set by Dhoom 3.
- Dhoom 3 – $30.75 million (including first week collections from China)
- Talaash – $8.95 million
- 3 Idiots – $25.9 million
- Ghajini – $7.75 million
- Taare Zameen Par – $3.20 million
- Total – $76.55 million (average $15.31 million per film)
Rank 3 Salman Khan: The biggest star in India is at number three overseas and lags way behind Aamir and Shahrukh. However, Salman is way ahead of all other actors. Most of his films belong to the action / masala genre, which could be one of the reasons why his films don’t perform as well in overseas territories. His latest release, Kick, was also his highest grosser ahead of Ek Tha Tiger.
- Kick – $11.3 million
- Jai Ho – $6.1 million
- Dabangg 2 – $8.48 million
- Ek Tha Tiger – $10.4 million
- Bodyguard – $8.3 million
- Total – $44.58 million (average $8.92 million per film)
Rank 4 Hrithik Roshan: The poor performance of Guzaarish and Kites has hurt him, but Hrithik movies have always performed consistently well in the overseas markets. Krrish 3 is his highest grosser followed by Dhoom 2, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum and Jodhaa Akbar. Even if Bang Bang does very well, he has no chance of beating the top 3 Khans as his average is way too low at the moment.
- Krrish 3 – $8.78 million
- Agneepath – $6.1 million
- Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara – $7.21 million
- Guzaarish – $3.22 million
- Kites – $4.51 million
- Total – $29.82 million (average $5.96 million per film)
Rank 5 Ranbir Kapoor: Besharam under-performed big time, but Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was a massive success at the box office. Barfi and Rockstar too did well.
- Besharam – $2.96 million
- Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – $10.45 million
- Barfi! – $5.86 million
- Rockstar – $3.36 million
- Anjaana Anjaani – $3.2 million
- Total – $25.83 million (average $5.17 million per film)
Rank 6 Saif Ali Khan: Surprise, surprise! Saif Ali Khan with two solid performers in Race 2 and Cocktail is ahead of Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar in the overseas markets. Race 2 was a massive hit last year, Humshakals has under-performed.. but Saif seems to have quite a good following overseas. Love Aaj Kal did very well too collecting $6.4 million.
- Humshakals - $2.65 million
- Bullet Raja- $1 million
- Race 2 - $6.4 million
- Cocktail - $4.3 million
- Agent Vinod - $1.4 million
- Total – $15.75 million (average $3.15 million per film)
Rank 7 Ajay Devgn: Singham Returns has done well and so have most of his films directed by Rohit Shetty. Apart from those, Son of Sardaar was a decent hit. Devgn is ahead of Akshay Kumar by a small margin.
- Singham Returns – 4.5 million (expected)
- Satyagraha – $2.4 million
- Himmatwala – $1.3 million
- Son of Sardaar – $2.8 million
- Bol Bachchan – $4.1 million
- Total – $15.1 million (average $3.02 million per film)
Rank 8 Akshay Kumar: Singh Is Kinng (7.1 million), Housefull 2 ($6 million), Heyy Baby ($4.4 million) are several others were hugely successful films. Back in 2007 – 2008, Akshay movies used to fare better than Aamir, Salman and Hrithik’s. But his last few films have under-performed big time. His biggest hit in the last 2 years is Holiday: A Solider Is Never Off Duty.
- Entertainment – 2.75 million (expected)
- Holiday: A Solider Is Never Off Duty – $4.2 million
- Boss – $2.75 million
- Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobaara – $1.85 million
- Special 26 – $2.75 million
- Total – $14.25 million (average $2.85 million per film)
The battle is not quite as close or interesting as the domestic market. But Happy New Year vs PK is something to watch out for. It’ll also be interesting to see if Bang Bang can beat Kick and Ek Tha Tiger. If it does, it’ll be Hrithik’s highest grosser too. Ranbir and Salman have no release this year, Saif has Happy Ending while Ajay has Action Jackson. Akshay has an interesting line-up of upcoming films, he could even make it to the Top 5 as he has a fairly good following.
Check out the graphs below and post your thoughts in the comments section below. The worldwide ranking will be out soon. Check the ‘related’ section below for the Top 15 India ranking of Bollywood stars.
Total Collections Bollywood Overseas
Average Collection Bollywood Overseas
@tina oh really????? If dhoom 3 is not aamir’s movie than don 2, MNIK, JTHJ, CE are not really srk movies. Lol. Wake up. Dhoom 3 is ATBB only bcaus of aamir. Don’t show your frustration and don’t represent the double standard of all srk fans. Its representing your own star. And even off you take dhoom 3 out of the list still aamir will remain the king. Weather you like him or hate him
facts will never change. Good. Luck for your star. Hope this time he at least brakes his own MNIK record. LOL.
Thanks to yrf and dharma’s dominence srk got some popularity in overseas. But its all bcaus of the great yash Chopra. And if aamir had worked with yrf in his early career than I am 100% sure that he would have dominated the whole list of top 10 and srk would be doing some unknown movies with rohit SHIT. But after all everyone knows who rules overseas now. So better shut your mouth. And don’t give dumb excuses of yrf made dhoom 3 and bla bla bla. Its getting irritating to the sensible aamir fans.
Hrithik Roshan has given his consent to collaborate
with Hollywood director Rob Cohen in his next which
will be set in India.
His May 2010 release Kites was supposed to be his
stepping stone to Hollywood and now Hrithik Roshan
seems set to finally make a splash in the West. On
June 4, Hrithik Roshan refuelled the crossover rumours
when he and his parents (Rakesh and Pinky Roshan)
were spotted dining with Hollywood filmmaker Rob
Cohen in Mumbai.
Mirror has it that Cohen visited Mumbai to cast Hrithik
in his next venture and the actor has said `Yes’.
READ: Hrithik Roshan partied hard a night before
divorce
The filmmaker, who has helmed hits like The Fast and
the Furious and XXX, had a long chat with Hrithik about
the film, an action flick which will be shot in India.
The film will also star a parallel male lead which will be
played by a Hollywood actor and Cohen will make
another visit to the country, when he is ready with the
final script.
A source close to the development told Mirror, “Cohen
had made a few earlier trips to Mumbai and met Hrithik.
This one finalised the deal.”
This will be Hrithik’s first Hollywood flick but the 40-
year old star is already quite popular in Hollywood.
For one, Twilight star Kristen Stewart had reportedly
confessed that if ever she had a baby boy, she would
want him to look like Hrithik Roshan but with then
boyfriend Robert Pattinson’s eyes.
And when Krrish 3 set the cash registers ringing very
loudly in the US in November 2013, film critics hinted
that this success might herald the birth of a crossover
Indian superstar.
Hr’s Bang Bang will do great business in overseas as the teaser has generated huge buzz and also with the song doing the same.
Consistency is the key factor and SRK has been the most consistent both in domestic and overseas markets. One more masala movie (HNY) will settle this debate for once and all. Then he can go back to making content-oriented movies like Fan and Raees.
In the meantime, Salman will continue to chase worldwide collections of CE, D3, and HNY. And the star in Aamir’s movie is always content so the day that fails, he fails too (prime example being Talaash).
I love Indicine’s impartial and good analysis. I am Salman Fan and admit he have to make his PR strong in oversees.
@indicine
take only 1st phase collection of overseas then the scenario will be change drastically …
this is also correct but only taking the collection of 1st phase will be more accurate coz
dldj was released previous year in peru …
like if mnik releases on grand scale in other countries where it was not released then it will easily earn at least 15million more ….
@Anand agreed… most of d bollywood films r watched by NRIs… u urself is an xample.
hollywood has a wider reach… unlike ours.
they arent involved into it as much as we r in hollywood movies.
All the 3 khans are very strong everywhere in the world…… In my opinion, nobody will be able to challenge their stardom in the coming years as well..
LOL SRK fans worrying about opening. They are not confident about HNY. Even if 23rd is low, if wom is mixed, it will hv good trend.
SRK fans are assuming 300 cr on basis of some distributor from WB. Also, getting sad on his same words. This is melodramatic than K3G
I just feel I am in middle of a mudslinging match here.
Too much dirt being thrown at each other.
Peace guys.
Srk has been the no. 1 at major NRI centres. He has tailor made his movies to suit them.
Please do not associate the world global, universal and all that, but srk is the top star in NRI dominated regions of the world.
Salman is the undisputed number 1 in India.
While, Aamir is the best of the best in both the worlds. His movies are not limited to just India or places where Indians stays abroad, but even in countries where the language is a barrier like China. His movies have been dubbed and did big business in other regions of the world. So he is on a different level altogether.
To each his own.
this is foolish way to compare..
just because amir has two huge hits overseas he is justified parallel to srk in overseas market is uncommensurating the srks overseas success and fanbase.
just look at the last 10 movies of srk at overseas…his consistancy is unparallel.
but in india same goes to salman but only since last 7 movies otherwise he has dwindling career.
SRK ALWAYS GOOD PERFORMER’S DOMESTIC AND OVERSEAS… LAST 10 HITS FILM GIVEN BY SRK I THINK AFTER HNY SRK BREAK ALL RECORDS…..150 CARORE OVERSEAS AND 300 CARORE DOMESTIC…. TOTAL WORLDWIDE GROSS 550 CAROR……
@trooper don’t be so double faced. If talaash failed so my name is khan also failed. And by the way talaash got hit verdict. So better get a life moron. In Srk movies, the big banner or director is the star of the movie not Srk. While in aamir’s movies, aamir himself is the star of the movie, not the director or big banner.
@vytus not really. Salman and aamir fans are matured. They are not interested in Srk. But you Srk fans are double faced hypocrites, who can never digest others success. And keep looking for bizarre excuses when their film make much more money than Srk. So I hope you better understand my reply. Good luck.
No surprise i hope srk will continue ruling the world for many more years.
i didnt get it.. aftr releasing d3 in 2000 screens in china, it only collected 2-3 million in d first week lol
it shud be called disaster in china
I still think to be very honest, Akki is the most hardworking actor and then Hrithik. Although I do not like Hrithik, I have to admit this. But no one beats Akki.
@dev.. I am waiting for the news that conforms offically hr is the only actor in bollywood jo hollywood ke layak hai
Initially I stayed away from this article but after reading it I still wish I stayed away- I have learnt nothing new from it…
Comments section Im skipping- its pointless so not worth commenting or responding to comments…
@indicine great article but like you said the race is not as close as the domestic race is…
Only thing worth noting is that Aamirs next will replace his TZP and after that Aamirs solid recent form n class will mean he moves well past Srk…. PK will be huge overseas as overseas audiences unlike Indian audiences wont be put of by partial nudity… After PK Aamirs average will sky rocket…! Srk is consistent but I dont think his line up will blow away audiences so he will be forever stuck in the mid teen range…! Battle is between them 2 but after Christmas it will become alot clearer as to who is Top Khan overseas…!
@suchit get over yourself and use a little more common sense. The day you give aamir a mediocre script, he struggles. That is not the case with SRK bc most of his last releases have been mediocre scripts and he has delivered hits even with competition. Aamir’s weaknesses are hidden by a good script and xmas release with 4 open weeks which is why hes been playing it safe since 3 idiots.
After pk Aamir will be top of the list in domestic and overseas as well ..& its 100% guarantee that pk will create new club of 300 cr
The above records says that Aamir’s only two movies bigger than srk’s top 4….@Arjunkapoor4 your list is 100% true and genuine
remove deepika + rohit + rajnikath movie ce from the list then u will see srk even behind than hrithik…. srk promotes his films like mad in overseas…where Aamir , salman and hrithik never promote their films in overseas…. Aamir is no.1 in overseas accept it or die… tell ur srk to break 5 year old record of 3i even after slam tour..lol
@trooper dhoom 3 also was mediocre script still it broke all records not just in domestic but overseas as well.
After happy new year srk will easily retain his top spot as it expected to do 35 milllon in oversease