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Friday, October 11, 2024

Who is the King of Bollywood?

News Analysis |

Khan is the name synonymous with Bollywood. Without a shadow of doubt, Khan’s are single-handedly responsible for ascendency and rise of Bollywood internationally. Collectively, they may be instrumental in creating euphoria among the audiences from east to west. But how did they fare individually has been the talk of the town?

The newfound Bollywood’s fascination with huge openings and lifetime box office collections has been a new yardstick to measure the success of a particular actor and movie.

The emergence of Shahrukh Khan and Amir Khan as fierce competitors benefitted Bollywood as it served the film community and enthralled the audiences across the world.  When it comes to star power, it’s comparatively easier to announce the winner based on star power, multimillion-dollar brand endorsements and ability to attract the audiences to theaters.

Though Salman is famous in traditional overseas markets like US and UK but is yet to penetrate other big markets. Based on the numbers generated and overall overseas performances, Amir Khan is indeed a ruling Khan, followed by Salman Khan.

In career spanning nearly three decades, Amir and Shahrukh have won the hearts of millions but the question remains: who is the ultimate winner at the box office? SRK may have been a winner in 1990’s and early 2000’s, but of late, it has been more of Amir Khan show closely followed by Salman Khan.

Both Amir and Shahrukh have their own uniqueness with different acting styles but box office numbers matter and are central to the ascendency of any star in this highly competitive industry.

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Shahrukh experienced enormous success but after Om Shanti Om’s release in 2008, Shahrukh’s illustrious Bollywood career has taken a bettering. His brilliance was not as potent as it used to be. The quality of his movies declined. Though, most of his movies fared well at the box office but they were not super hits.

His movies despite making profits failed to achieve bumper success in comparison to Amir and Salman movies. Someone who was a regular feature in the top grosser’s list is no longer a part of it. Over the years when Shahrukh under-performed, Amir Khan delivered the mammoth successes and broke his own records many a time. His new movies outperformed the previous with considerable margins with exception of some experimental work.

Though, he has only five films in the so called 100 crore club because he does only selective work with only one or two movies a year. While Salman Khan has highest number movies in 100 crore club, each one of his twelve released movies entered the Rs. 100 Crore Club since Wanted (2009). Shahrukh in comparison has seven films in the same club on par with Ajay Devgan and one less than Akshay Kumar.

After ruling Bollywood from 1992 to 2008, Shahrukh has slowly lost his charm, opening way for Amir Khan. Amir Khan had a dream run at box office, and is undisputedly a ruling Khan and current era belongs to him.

Salman Khan has witnessed a whopping success and has been extremely popular in masses in last decade. Though he had lost the respect he had gained in 1990’s, his fortune changed dramatically after 2009.

Shahrukh has managed to save his credibility but his reputation as a movie actor is at stake and critics believe he has long past his prime and is struggling to woe audience even in his much favored international markets. Without a doubt, Shahrukh had been an undisputed king in the overseas market. But his reputation is fading; so do the numbers. Shahrukh has only two movies in top ten and none of his movies feature in top five overseas grosses.

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Amir has taken over and has five movies in top 10 and most significantly his movies occupy first 4-slots in the top five overseas box office collections. Shahrukh Khan had already lost in the domestic circuit as none of his movies now feature in the top ten domestic grosser. Salman has four and Amir has three movies in the all-time top grosser list.

Over the years when Shahrukh under-performed, Amir Khan delivered the mammoth successes and broke his own records many a time. His new movies outperformed the previous with considerable margins with exception of some experimental work.

Amir was earlier successful in only domestic circles but now with quality and entertaining cinema he’s reaching newer territories and non-traditional markets to expand his reach. ‘3 Idiots’ was instrumental in opening the Chinese and Japanese markets for him which have been witnessing more Bollywood film releases now. His recently released ‘Secret Superstar’ performed exceedingly well in China.

Though Salman is famous in traditional overseas markets like US and UK but is yet to penetrate other big markets. Based on the numbers generated and overall overseas performances, Amir Khan is indeed a ruling Khan, followed by Salman Khan. After ruling Bollywood from 1992 to 2008, Shahrukh has slowly lost his charm, opening way for Amir Khan. Amir Khan had a dream run at box office, and is undisputedly a ruling Khan and current era belongs to him.