Shah Rukh Khan tops IMDb’s ‘most prolific headliners’ of 25 years; Deepika Padukone most popular star of decade

Following SRK, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan secured the second position, each with 11 films in the top 130 list. Deepika Padukone ranked third with 10 films, while Ajay Devgn held the fifth spot with 7 films. Other actors include Amitabh Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, and Rani Mukerji, each with 6 films in the list. Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, and Akshay Kumar each had 5 films in the list.

Other stars, including Rashmika Mandanna, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Rajkummar Rao, Vijay Sethupathi, Shraddha Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Kajol, Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Anushka Sharma, and Preity Zinta, had four films each in the list.

Deepika, Alia, Aishwarya top popularity ranking

When it came to the individual popularity ranking list of the last decade, which the website released in June 2024, Deepika Padukone topped the list. The rankings are based on IMDb weekly rankings from January 2014 to April 2024, and the list also shows female stars surpassing male actors. Deepika was followed by Shah Rukh Khan, while Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Alia Bhatt appeared in the third and fourth spots. The late actor Irrfan Khan was fifth on the list.

Reflecting on this, Deepika said, “When I began my journey, I was often told how a woman must or is expected to navigate her career in order to be successful. However, from the very beginning, I was never afraid to ask questions, ruffle feathers, walk a more difficult path and challenge the status quo in order to reshape the mould we have all been expected to fit into. The faith my family, fans and collaborators have had in me, have also empowered me to make the choices and decisions that I have, hopefully forever altering the path those after me will tread.”

Aamir Khan’s crossover appeal

While SRK is clearly the Badshah, it is Aamir Khan all the way when it comes to ‘crossover hits’ and international appeal. His 3 Idiots is the most popular Indian movie worldwide, with 468,000 IMDb user ratings, and 8.4 aggregate rating. Even though RRR is the most popular Indian movie of all time in the US; 3 Idiots holds that position in the UK, the rest of Europe, and Australia. Dangal is the most popular Indian movie in the UAE and China, and Taare Zameen Par in Brazil.

From Highway (2014) to Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), Alia Bhatt has delivered various powerful performances over the last decade, and her presence on the list shows her taking the reins of her stardom and leading in her own way. Aishwarya Rai making it to the list also highlights the actor’s undying stardom. She appears in fewer and fewer films and was last seen in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan series, but she remains the talk of the town, thanks to her red carpet appearances at Cannes and Paris Fashion Week.