Forbes’ list of world’s top 10 actors is out. While Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel rule the chart placing themselves in the top-3 slot, our desi actors have also paved their way in the top 10.
Bollywood releases 100 films every year; combined with regional cinema, this makes India one of the biggest film hubs in the world. And Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar, with their massive fan followings and multi-million rupee revenues, have been ranked in the list of world’s 10 highest paid actors this year, published by Forbes magazine.
According to Forbes , the earnings of the world’s 20 highest-paid actors combined to form a staggering $720 million calculated over the time period between June 2016- June 2017, before fees and taxes. The earnings estimates have been based on data available on websites likes Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, interviews with film trade analysts and inside sources. The magazine also adds that the figures mentioned corresponding to the stars in the list are all pre-tax and fees for agents, managers and lawyers have not been deducted.
Shah Rukh Khan is ranked 8th on the list with an annual earning of $38 million followed by Salman Khan ($37 million) and Akshay Kumar ($35.5 million) respectively in the 9th and 10th position. SRK appeared in Raees that earned around Rs 267 crore worldwide ($41.6 million), according to a report by The Times of India . His most recent release, Jab Harry Met Sejal has been able to make Rs 144 crore worldwide so far, reports Bollywood Hungama .
Salman Khan’s 2017 release, Tubelight earned Rs 215 crore worldwide ($33 million), as per Koimoi.com ; the actor has many films lined up for back-to-back releases this year and the next.
Akshay Kumar, with his “socially-relevant” films, has been able to cement a consistent position at the box-office over the past few years. This year, Kumar’s films — Jolly LLB 2 , Toilet: Ek Prem Katha — have done brisk business worldwide.
But, it is not just the films that earn these superstars all the moolah; a lot of it comes from various national and international brand endorsements that feature these superstars as faces.
What also surprised many, was the absence of Aamir Khan from the list whose film Dangal made waves across the globe with earnings of Rs 1848 crore ($288 million). The film was released in December 2016, hence it is odd that Aamir’s name doesn’t find a place with the other Bollywood A-listers in the Forbes list.
Here’s the full list of the world’s highest paid actors .
The magazine had also released its list of world’s highest paid actresses a few days ago with La La Land actress and Academy Award winner Emma Stone topping the list with earnings of $26 million followed by Jennifer Aniston ($25.5 million) and Jennifer Lawrence ($24 million).
No Indian actress, be it Deepika Padukone or Priyanka Chopra, have been included in the list. Padukone starred in xXx: Return of Xander Cage , while Chopra starred in her TV show Quantico as well as Baywatch with Dwayne Johnson.
While we do cheer with the female force breaking box-office collections with films like Wonder Woman , the pay disparity between actors and actresses is huge, and dismal. Stone’s numero position is based on her $26 million earning, while her male counterpart Wahlberg has $68 million to his name.