This superstar's films have earned over a billion dollars worldwide, the highest for any actor in India
Box office collections are often the biggest metric of success in the film arena. Your ability to pull the audience to the theatre reflects largely in how much your films have earned. So it’s no wonder that the biggest stars in any industry routinely give the biggest blockbusters. So the star with the highest cumulative box office gross ever should rightly be called the most successful actor. In India, that is a man whose films have grossed over a billion dollars roughly Rs 8500 crore, and counting.
The highest-grossing Indian actor ever is...
No prizes for guessing but Shah Rukh Khan is the man who has everyone beat when it comes to box office collection from India. The actor has appeared in over 60 films over the course of his career, amassing Rs 8500 crore in worldwide gross. Shah Rukh is also the most successful Indian actor overseas, with his films reportedly doing a business of just over Rs 3000 crore overseas. He leads Akshay Kumar by a small but clear margin of a couple of hundred crores. With Akshay coming up with a few releases in 2024, he has a chance to ‘win back’ his crown.
How Shah Rukh beat Akshay, Salman, Amitabh, and Rajinikanth
As per inustry insiders, Shah Rukh’s cumulative gross was just under Rs 6000 crore by the pandemic. A hugely successful 2023 saw him leapfrog ahead of Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar to take the top spot. The year 2023 alone contributed Rs 2600 crore to SRK’s cumulative gross. The success of Jawan (Rs 1150 crore), Pathaan (Rs 1050 crore), and Dunki (Rs 420 crore and counting) has meant that Shah Rukh registered the biggest year for any Indian actor at the box office, going from second spot to the first in a matter of months.
Other highest grossing actors from India
As stated earlier, Akshay Kumar is at the second spot with a cumulative worldwide gross of over Rs 8000 crore. Akshay takes the cake in domestic collections, which are around Rs 5000 crore net from 126 films. Salman Khan is in third spot with his films making just over Rs 7000 crore, followed by Aamir Khan, who finds himself in the list courtesy of mega blockbusters like Dangal, PK, and Secret Superstar. Other actors whose films have grossed over Rs 5000 crore are Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Rajinikanth, and Kamal Haasan. Prabhas and Thalapathy Vijay – both of whom had a successful year courtesy Salaar and Leo respectively – have also joined the Rs 5000-crore lifetime club in 2023. Hrithik Roshan is in the next bracket with box office earnings of over Rs 4000 crore.
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 "Shah Rukh Khan in a still from Pathaan")
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