Aamir now rules as king of the Khans, Latest Movies News - The New Paper
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Aamir now rules as king of the Khans

Three Indian actors sharing a surname have ruled Bollywood's box office for decades, but the success of wrestling blockbuster Dangal means it is Aamir who is now king of the Khans.

Known as the "Khans of Bollywood", Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman have been the undoubted superstars of the Hindi film industry since the mid-1990s, taking turns to reign supreme.

But with Dangal smashing records, Salman suffering a rare flop and Shah Rukh without a major hit in four years, the crown is firmly placed on Aamir's head, for now.

"The Khans used to be on par but Aamir has moved ahead and Shah Rukh is kind of lagging behind recently," film trade analyst Ramesh Bala said of the trio, who all turn 52 this year and are not related.

HIGHEST GROSSING

Dangal has set new parameters for box-office potential of a Bollywood movie since it was released in India last December.

It quickly became the highest-grossing Bollywood film ever, knocking another of Aamir's movies off the top spot, and has made close to 20 billion rupees (US$310 million) worldwide.

Audiences lapped up Aamir's 2014 satirical science fiction comedy PK, No. 2 on the all-time Bollywood grossing list, for its questioning of religious superstitions.

Film distributor Akshaye Rathi points to the fact that Aamir does a film every two years on average, while Salman and Shah Rukh regularly release two a year."Aamir has been very consistent for a very long time. He doesn't do as many films as Shah Rukh or Salman and the more films you do the higher the chance that one misses," said Rathi. - AFP

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