10 hits in a row for Shahrukh Khan: Consistency Redefined

With Chennai Express turning out to be one of the biggest blockbusters in the history of Indian Cinema, Shahrukh Khan has further consolidated his strong hold on the Box Office. Shahrukh now has 10 consecutive hit movies to his credit and is second only to the legendary Rajesh Khanna who gave 15 consecutive hits in just 3 years. (Also read: Full list of Rajesh Khanna’s 15 back to back hits)

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna to Chennai Express

Due to SRK’s super success as a romantic hero, he had been criticised for over-using his immensely popular lover boy image. But if we take a closer look at the list of his last 10 movies, SRK has played a variety of character in almost every possible genre in Indian cinema; an arrogant bitter husband who cheats on his wife in ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’, Mafia King in ‘Don’ and ‘Don2’, Hockey coach in ‘Chak De India’, 70s struggling actor in ‘Om Shanti Om’, Introvert government servant in ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, Autistic muslim in ‘My Name Is Khan’, a Superhero in ‘Ra.one’ and finally back to Rahul in ‘Chennai Express’. All characters are as different from each other as they can be.

After having complete monopoly over the Diwali release date, Shahrukh Khan has successfully managed to capitalise on the Eid Festival release date which was being dominated by his arch rival Salman Khan for the last 4 years. (Also read: Shahrukh Khan and the history of Diwali clashes)

Now, coming to the number of consecutive hit / successful movies, SRK is way ahead of his contemporaries – Aamir Khan and Salman Khan. While Aamir has 6 consecutive hits under his belt, Salman is placed third with 5 (all blockbusters). Not taking any credit away from any ‘Khan’ here, all three have been extremely successful over a long period of time. Just that, SRK has been a little more consistent than the other two. Check out the details in the table below (last failure is marked in RED):

Note: Only movies that were Hit, Superhit, Blockbuser or All Time Blockbusters have been taken into consideration. Non-commercial or special appearances haven’t been included.

Some Interesting Facts:

• Aamir Khan has not given a flop since ‘Mela’ in 2000. That means ‘Lagaan’, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ and ‘Mangal Pandey’ added to his list of 6 consecutive hits and makes it 9 movies in a row without a flop.
• All of Salman’s 5 movies in the list have been huge blockbusters with ‘Dabangg’ becoming All Time Blockbuster.
• Salman also has maximum number of ‘Biggest Hits Of The Year’ to his credit. (Also read: Biggest hits from 1989 – 2012)
• From December 2006 to December 2007, i.e. within one year only, Akshay Kumar delivered five consecutive hits in ‘Bhagam Bhaag’, ‘Namaste London’, ‘Heyy Babyy’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ and ‘Welcome’. The next release ‘Tashan’ broke the streak as it turned out to be a Below Average grosser. But that was followed by a huge blockbuster ‘Singh Is Kinng’.
• Last but in no way the least, Amitabh Bachchan is the only actor till now who gave at least one hit every year for 14 consecutive years from 1972 (Bombay To Goa) to 1985 (Mard). Staggering feat!

Article by Abhishek Sharma tweets @abhu_sharma