Following up on the much-discussed Top 5 most bankable stars in India, today we discuss the top stars in the overseas market.
Over the last few years, the increasingly large size of the overseas markets, has made it extremely significant for Bollywood filmmakers. The higher ticket prices, the growing NRI audience and the international audience slowly taking interest in Hindi films, has ensured that the $20 million threshold (equivalent to the 100 crore club in India) has been surpassed by films like My Name Is Khan and 3 Idiots.
Popular filmmaker Karan Johar, whose last few films have fared well internationally, once famously said “We do not see NRI’s as people who are separate from Indians. They are all Indians and in fact the NRI’s are more Indian at heart then any of us in India!”
So who are the Top 5 overseas box office stars? It’s pretty much the same as the biggest stars in India, just that the order has changed.
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1. Shahrukh Khan – Well, what do we say? SRK has dominated the international market like no other actor in history. None come close, he’s the absolute KING, by a fair distance. Of the 10 highest grossing films, SRK has starred in 7. In the Top 25, he features in a staggering 12 films! Before 3 Idiots released in China, My Name Is Khan was by far the highest grossing film with $22.15 million (Rs 120 crores). Some of his films that haven’t fared as well as expected in India are blockbusters abroad!
2. Aamir Khan – With 23.9 million (130 crores), 3 Idiots is the highest overseas grosser ever. The film has also made a huge impact at places where most Hindi films don’t even release. While the success of 3 Idiots has tremendously increased Aamir’s following, some of his older film like Ghajini and Fanaa have done well too.
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3. Hrithik Roshan – Hrithik has always been a bankable star at the overseas box office and fairly consistent too with 5 of his films in the Top 25 (including K3G). Dhoom 2 is the 7th highest grosser ever and one of the few films in the SRK dominated Top 10. Before the release of 3 Idiots, Hrithik occupied the second spot.
4. Salman Khan – With 2 films in the Top 25 (three if Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is included), the stocks of the most popular star in India has been rising with films like Dabangg and Bodyguard (No 10). His two upcoming films – Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2 – could push him into the Top 3.
5. Akshay Kumar – Much like Hrithik, Akshay too has been consistent but on the lower side. Some of his films like Singh Is King, Welcome and Housefull 2 have set the cast registers ringing.
Top 25 Highest Grossing Overseas films
| # | Movie | Overseas Collections | In Indian Rupees (55 per $) | Lead stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 Idiots | $23.90 million | 132 crores | Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor |
| 2 | My Name Is Khan | $22.15 million | 122 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Kajol |
| 3 | Don 2 | $11.70 million | 65 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra |
| 4 | Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna | $10.77 million | 60 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee |
| 5 | Om Shanti Om | $10.08 million | 56 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone |
| 6 | Ra One | $9.20 million | 51 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor |
| 7 | Dhoom 2 | $8.57 million | 47 crores | Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai |
| 8 | Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi | $8.43 million | 46 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma |
| 9 | Veer Zaara | $8.20 million | 45 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta |
| 10 | Bodyguard | $8.15 million | 45 crores | Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor |
| 11 | Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham | $8.00 million | 44 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Kajol |
| 12 | Jodha Akbar | $7.55 million | 42 crores | Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai |
| 13 | Don | $7.46 million | 41 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra |
| 14 | Black | $7.40 million | 41 crores | Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee |
| 15 | Singh is King | $7.27 million | 40 crores | Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif |
| 16 | Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara | $7.25 million | 40 crores | Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif |
| 17 | Ghajini | $7.06 million | 39 crores | Aamir Khan, Asin |
| 18 | Fanaa | $6.86 million | 38 crores | Aamir Khan, Kajol |
| 19 | Devdas | $6.65 million | 37 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit |
| 20 | Kuch Kuch Hota Hai | $6.25 million | 35 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Kajol |
| 21 | Love Aaj Kal | $6.20 million | 35 crores | Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone |
| 22 | Housefull 2 | $6.10 million | 34 crores | Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Asin |
| 23 | Dabangg | $6.10 million | 34 crores | Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha |
| 24 | Kal Ho Na Ho | $6.00 million | 33 crores | Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan |
| 25 | Agneepath | $6.00 million | 33 crores | Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra |
Note: Since, we do not specialize in overseas box office and do not have an extensive database, we have used figures from Wikipedia.
Any questions, please ask in the comments section below. Be sensible with your comments, else they will be deleted.
SRK is the game changer. He dares to do what nobody dares. He speaks what he believes & not what other likes to hear. He likes variety within the limitations.
aman tera baap indian hai ya malum nahi abhi tak ?
Nahi maloom hoga to tere maa se jakar puchh.
LOOK AT WHERE LALLU IS NOT EVEN IN TOP 3 HAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHA!!!! LOL!!!!
DDLJ, Baazigar, Daar, Devdas, Chak De India, Swades, MNIK, KANK, ^^ many more… different shades of a charecter he has portryed (more than any other). Yet he is called a romantic hero. This is the magic of his persona.
srk is great actor n he has ruled overseas rather than in india compare with salman
salman is king of india
srk is king of overseas
thats the truth so far
SRK the most consistent star who not only have the starpower but also have the xpressions that connects with the hearts with millions of his well wishers… :)
And Proudly speaking with humbleness I am one of them! Love you Shahrukh.. :)
words cannot describe SRK! He’s one and only not just in bollywood but outside india..
He is an inborn actor with immense talent. He came, did and won. No one in the history of Bollywood has such a huge following.
SRK IS THE BEST ACTOR IN THE WORLD so Handsome & Charming Man… He has a killer smile & is so talented I love him so much… He is so hot.
OVERSEAS CONTRIBUTES JUST 20 -25 % BOX OFFICE COLLECTION..OVERSEAS COLLECTION IS JUST BONUS IN OVERALL COLLECTION…INDIAN BOX OFFICE IS IMPORTANT BCOZ IT CONTRIBUTES 75 -80 % COLLECTION….AN BOLLYWOOD BELONGS TO INDIA NOT OVERSEAS…AN WHO IS KING OF INDIAN BOX OFFICE ??..ANY GUESS…ONE N ONLY SALMAN BHAI
If acting is a religion… then SHAH RUKH KHAN is GOD…
indicine please if you convert dollar into rupess then convert it according to that year of realse value of dollar vs rupee else you remove it just puts no in dollar else pepole will post no which is in crores( not in dollar) and start fighting when boxoffice india put no by right conversion of dollar vs rupees or any other site
I consider that shahrukh is not acting in films he actually experience the drama of the situation and portray his character with such a prodigy that the audience also has the effect on their mind.
One of the greatest actors of all time.
Not only overseas.. SRK is the No. 1 in India too.. CHECK THE opening weekend figures of Ra.One & Don2.. That indicates Starpower..not the overall gross. U cant put the blame of weak films on starpower. If u check bollywood history, shahrukh has been the most consistent & most successful! Long Live Shah Rukh Khan
ojas, I understand what your trying to say. But, the figures in Indian rupees are just an indicator. If I calculate it based on the dollar rates during release, films that collected more in dollar could be ranked lower. And that will be confusing.
There are 23 blockbuster films in overseas according to Boxofficeindia.com.SRK has 15 blockbusters namely DDLJ,DTPH,KKHH,Mohabb.,K3g,Devdas,KHNH,Veer Zaara,Main hoon na,Don,KANK,OSO,RNBDJ,MNIK and Don 2.SRK has 9 All time blockbusters out of 11 overall in overseas namely,DDLJ,KKHH,K3g,Devdas,KHNH,Veer Zaara,KANK,OSO and MNIK.Aamir Khan has 2 blockbusters namely Fanaa and 3 Idiots while Salman Khan has 1 blockbuster,HAHK.Both have 1 All time blockbuster namely 3 Idiots and HAHK.Well after seeing this data if anybody says that Salman Khan is better than SRK in overseas then what one can say.Comparing SRK with Salman in overseas is like comparing Sachin Tendulkar with Suresh Raina.Salman highest hit is Bodyguard which earned 8 million $ where as K3g earned the same amount in 2001 when the market was half of today.SRK last 3 films,MNIK,Ra.One and Don 2 were only hits in India but are blockbusters in overseas.His Swades,Dil se and Paheli are successful in overseas while they were flops in India.He is the uncrowned king in the overseas.
Wow srk is on the Top..
Now whr r the mallu lallu fans who claims that thr bhaijaan is number 1 actor in the world..
It proves the Srk’s worth in overseas..
World knows bollywood bcuz of srk.. HELL YEAH..
Well, now King is Salman Khan of Bollywood agree or not that is a fact.
SRK iZ thE REal KInG..
I agree the top 5 list.. but I think Salman is better than Hrithik
k thanx indicine but atleast mention this in your article
currently Salman Toping Hrithik
@indicine…plz post worldwide list as well…..& if you dont have any knowledge about it then post it according to boxofficeindia….now wiki has become crap…yesterday they showed worldwide collection of bodyguard 100 crore!!!!
1:Shahrukh
2:Amir
3:Salman
4:Hrithik
5:Akshay
dont trust on Wiki yr.
Usay to koi b edit kr stka hai
Salman Khan fans have become frustated after watching this list.They are saying that overseas contribution is not much which is absurd.3 Idiots and MNIk grossed over 100 crores.Loosers
@Gaurav ya dude they have become after watching this list..
lallu fans ko overseas sey nafrat hain isliye lallu ki izzat bachaney key liye kuch bhi bak bak krate rehte hain.
SRK IS THE KING in worldwide as well.
and the biggest joke of this article is that LALLU IS AT 4TH POSITION LOL!!!!!
he doesn’t even deserved to be in top 5
Whatever the list is i don’t care because Hrithik is the 2nd most bankable star in Overseas…he has starred in 2 films of top 10 highest grossing movies overseas…..he also has his wax statue in london madame tussaud making him youngest indian for this owner and aamir and salman has only 1 movie in top 10.
king is king