The film industry is yet to get a proper answer on who the real pan-India star is in today’s time. It is very hard to determine this thing, considering that the box office has become very unpredictable. The tables turn for every actor every Friday, which makes the situation tougher than expected.
The trend started with Prabhas, who somehow helped the South cinema get the attention that it needed throughout India, including the Hindi market. His Hindi dubbed films over the last few years have continued grabbing attention for their scale and style.
However, Allu Arjun changed a lot in terms of the pan-India concept with the Pushpa franchise. The second part collected more than Rs. 800 crores only in Hindi. A few years ago, Yash did the same with K.G.F. Chapter 2, reportedly collecting Rs. 435 crores in the Hindi market.
Shah Rukh Khan dominated the box office in 2023 with two big blockbusters, Pathaan and Jawan. The record was broken by Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar, which also had outstanding collections in the South Indian market, resulting from the popularity of the franchise.
In today’s period, there are three names so far that have taken the throne of the pan-India star altogether – Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, and Allu Arjun. But the situation is expected to change if any one of them creates a much bigger record at the box office. Apart from that, anyone else might take their position easily with good numbers.
The upcoming film of Yash, Toxic, is already generating buzz for its bold glimpses and frequent delays. Trade experts are saying that it is expected to create history at the box office. Allu Arjun’s next with Atlee is going to bring something that people have not seen in Indian cinema for all these years. Expectations are also sky-high for Shah Rukh Khan’s King.
While Prabhas made a comeback with Kalki, the failure of The Raja Saab has raised a lot of questions about his status as a pan-India star. But critics believe that, considering the lineup of his upcoming films, Prabhas has a chance of going back to the position where he stood once.
Ranveer Singh is among the young generation that is supposed to take over the position of the existing superstars. Viewers are once again showing a lot of interest in seeing him on the big screen.
The ongoing situation has clearly hinted that it will take a few more years for one person to take the position of pan-India star. The box office needs to become stable as it used to be in the past, and this might take longer than expected or might not happen at all.
