Follow Us
Join UsRight from the days of the Dilip Kumar’s and the Amitabh Bachchan’s or the Rajesh Khanna’s, Bollywood had slowly started shaping up, accepting the numerous changes that it had to undergo through different Eras in its lifetime. But it was only during the late 80s and the early 90s that a revolutionary change took the entire industry by a storm. And guess what? The storm has been unstoppable ever since!
Replenishing the voids that our Kaka or others left after they decided to cut down on films, it was upto the young brigade then to take up the baton and march ahead. So they did and how! Namely the Khans-it was Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan who respectively made their magnanimous debuts and processed the entire whirlwind change in the fraternity. Catering to the classes, the masses and everybody else ever since their inception into the Bolly ville, these three have ceremoniously worked hard and clearly created a legion of their own. And the result remains unanimously agreed to in unison. The Famous Khan-daan has definitely taken over the industry giving all the other lead heroes of those times aka Govinda and the Anil Kapoors a definite run for their money.
The Magnanimous Entries and Bollywood was never the same anymore!
While Salman entered filmdom with a supporting role in the Farooque Sheikh-Rekha starrer, he made a bombastic entry with the decade’s most iconic ode to love and friendship: Maine Pyar Kiya. Aamir romanced his way through with a film as strikingly organic as Qayamat se Qayamat Tak. And finally in 1992, it was Shah Rukh who walked away with the cake (and the heroine! As well) in Deewana, zooming on his bike and driving his way through to everyone’s hearts! It has almost been 23-25 years for the three heavyweights to have made their debuts and there have been a brocade of at least a score of other newcomers who made their mark, but never could anyone attain the status that these three have enjoyed over time. Starting way back in their ‘20s, now that all of them are nearing the half century mark, roles are still being penned keeping the superstars in mind and that is quite a monumental feat, to be precise!
Meandering through their share of mushy romances, dhoom dhadaka action and some creatively mind boggling intellectual pieces, all three of them have reigned supreme and maintained their super-star status even though there had been occasional flickers with films getting beaten to dust at the box office. While all the other contemporaries faded away slowly with time, some did manage to stick through alongside the big brand of the Khans but never could they even remotely come close to what the Khans had already achieved! Today, the Khans are definitely synonymous with the Indian film industry and the most identified brand that has snowballed Bollywood ever.
Ruling the Box-office
Standing the tallest like the evergreen conifer among a host of other trees around, The Aamir-Salman-Shah Rukh trio has changed the dimensions of Bollywood like no other and hence, they ascended as the most iconic stars in the history of Bollywood. Now that they are the biggest and the grandest actors of them all, they are paid in huge numbers, maybe the hugest remunerations of them all. With amounts ranging in between Rs. 25 to 35 crores along with profit sharing on films, the Khan power is of paramount impact on the industry today.
At a time when the super star status is measured in terms of commerce and the film’s records, it is only the Khan power who has by far, been essentially the sole reason for treasured box office results. Providing immense fodder even in years of drought, the big films, which the Khans have branded and been associated with, have supplied the industry with money spinners and have somehow kept the momentum going in. Raking in crores at the box office both domestically and internationally, they have instrumentally defined Hindi cinema both here and abroad. And if Bollywood has become a global phenomenon today, most of the credit goes to these three stalwarts who have somehow introduced and revolutionized the Indian film industry on international platforms.
The founding member of the 100 and the 200 crore clubs:
Coming to statistics, Six of the Eight films that have globally raked in over Rs. 200 crores at the cash registers, belong to the Khans, with Aamir Salman and Shah Rukh having two films each that bombastically made their way through the jinx. And with the 100 crore club being the newest benchmark to success and pride in the film industry, each actor, director and producer eyes that coveted century number to define their talents and reach today. Aamir, who led the foundation stone to the 100 crore club making Ghajini the first ever entrant into the 100 crore brigade, striking in a trend of sorts, he made it up by making sure that he opens up the gates of a 200 crore mark as well. Even there, the 200 crore club stands as a testimony to the superior Khan power with two Aamir films, 3 Idiots and Dhoom 3 and one Shah Rukh Khan film, Chennai Express taking the top spots with effortless conviction. Although there is an array of 27 films that have crossed the desiderate link, 13 of them belong to the Khan daan, which is therefore almost 50% of the total number. While contemporaries like Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and others account for half of the record smashing films that have hit the Bollywood crossroads, its upto these three actors who have largely supplied the other half of successful films. But comparing them in that regard would be totally wrong as collection-wise, the films by a Salman or an Aamir or a Shah Rukh have definitely shattered the most records. Although our superstars do not believe in numbers, so they say, their box office filmometer says a totally different story. With all the 100 crore and 200 crore films having a total lifetime collections of an approximated mammoth Rs. 3790 crores, the 13 movies belonging to the three Khans have recorded almost 54% of the amount with their 13 films amounting upto Rs. 2040 crores.
Traversing across borders and winning hearts worldwide!
And not just in India, the reach of our Khans even outside the nation is incredible and the overseas collections definitely stand out as a brave testimony to that. With the overseas arena dominated by Shah Rukh Khan, he has six of his films reigning supremo in the top 10 list. Aamir, who has solidified his overseas stance with a hugely impacted Dhoom 3 and a powerfully scripted 3 Idiots, has two films while Salman has one film on the list. All in all, the three Khans occupy nine of the top 10 spots outscoring and smashing all other contemporaries to a hilt when it comes to brand and star power.
