It was less than two decades ago that the 100-crore club was established when Aamir Khan’s Ghajini became the first Indian film to collect ₹100 crore net domestically. Since then, close to 150 Indian films have crossed that milestone, some big, many small.
Many actors have multiple films in the club, a testament to their sustained success. And while stars like the Khans, Rajinikanth, Vijay, and Kamal Haasan all feature multiple times in the list, only one star has 20 entries in the 100-crore club.
Actor with the most ₹100-crore hits With Priyadarshan’s Bhooth Bangla crossing the ₹100-crore mark at the Indian box office, Akshay Kumar now has 20 films that have earned over ₹100 crore net in India. This is the most by any lead star, ahead of Salman Khan’s 18.
What is interesting is that of these 20, six have come post-pandemic, showing that the actor has continued to churn out money-making films even as fewer audiences are going to theatres.
The success of Bhooth Bangla, followed by Housefull 5 and Kesari 2, also marks a revival for Akshay, who saw a tough time immediately after the lockdowns, with the back-to-back failures of films like Samrat Prithviraj, Ram Setu, Bachchhan Paandey, and Raksha Bandhan.
How Akshay beat the Khans and other superstars Akshay Kumar’s 20 films in the 100-crore club is a record he set through smart film selection and a prolific golden run that lasted from 2007 to 2019.
During this time, Akshay often worked in 3-4 films a year, maximising his chances of box-office success. His contemporaries like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Ajay Devgn limited themselves to just 1-2 films a year, while Aamir starred in fewer still.
By controlling the budgets of his films, Akshay ensured he appeared in more films in the same time period, giving him the enviable record of 20 films in the list.
Salman follows with 18 such films, followed by Ajay with 16 and Shah Rukh with 10. After the success of the two Dhurandhar films, Ranveer Singh has entered the top 5 with nine 100-crore hits to his name.
From down south, Tamil superstars Rajinikanth and Vijay have eight 100-crore hits each, while Telugu star Prabhas has seven.
Akshay is likely to extend his lead in the coming two years with projects like Haiwaan and Welcome to the Jungle lined up, along with the planned third Hera Pheri film.
