Salman Khan Was Way Ahead Of Shah Rukh & Aamir In The Late 90’s, Here’s Proof!

Are you too under the impression that 2009’s Wanted made Salman Khan the biggest box office star in Bollywood? As much as you’d want to believe this very theory, let us bring you some trivia and clear some of your doubts. Yes Shah Rukh Khan has maintained the longest of stardom ever since the 90’s. Aamir as we know has been extremely selective and has been constantly finding his audience. But it is Salman Khan who saw his stardom claiming the top slot in two phases. While he’s undeniably the biggest brand of stardom in the country right now, it was the late 90’s when every other actor in the country was found catching up to his success.

Facts - 1999

While SRK was beginning to take the game away by hits like Dil To Pagal Hai, Pardes and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, let us show you how the three Khans fared in the top 10 highest grossing list of year 1999:

Rank 1 – Hum Sath Sath Hain – 40 crores collections – Blockbsuter

Rank 2 – Biwi No. 1 – 26 crores collections – Super Hit

Rank 3 – Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam  - 25 crores collections – Super Hit

Rank 5 – Sarfarosh – 19 crores collections – Hit

Rank 7 – Mann – 17 crores collections – Average

Rank 10 – Baadshah – 15 crores collections – Average

There you go!

While the top three highest grossing movies were all Salman Khan starrers and big hits, Aamir only had two movies in the list, one out of which wasn’t even a hit.  On the other hand, SRK who had been riding high on his stardom only had a single movie in the top 10 and even that wasn’t much of a success.

Facts – 1998

Even the year before which is unanimously considered a year dominated by SRK and Aamir, let us break the myth by announcing that Salman had more hits than both these actors put together.

SRK in 1998

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai – Blockbuster

Dil Se – Flop

Duplicate – Flop

Aamir in 1998 –

Ghulam – Hit

Salman in 1998

Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya – Super Hit

Bandhan – Hit

Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai - Hit

Salman had a hat trick of hits in the year 1998 as well while both Shah Rukh and Aamir were lagging behind with more flops and lesser hits in comparison to Bhai. It is the largely understated success of Salman Khan in the 90’s that projects him as a superstar reborn in 2009.

Yes Salman Khan became a name synonymous to blockbuster after the record breaking success of Dabangg in 2010, a truce cinema follower must go through this data and understand that Bhai was perhaps a bigger star than both Shah Rukh and Aamir even in the 90’s. He was delivering hits after hits in that period and that golden period unfortunately goes unnoticed for different reasons.

While action is what redefined him later, the success of late 90’s also shows his range as an actor. He did action, romance, comedy, dramas and found success in everything he got involved with.

Still think Wanted made him the biggest superstar in the country? Think again!