From Shah Rukh Khan to Jr NTR, SS Rajamouli to Ektaa Kapoor, Indian entertainment stars have scored big on Variety’s annual list of 500 most influential people in showbusiness. The list also consists of Mukesh Ambani, the doyen of Viacom18 Media, producers Aditya Chopra, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Bhushan Kumar and the stellar director SS Rajamouli.
Describing Shah Rukh Khan’s incredible run at the box office this year with Pathaan and Jawan, Variety penned about his roaring comeback in 2023, “Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan made a roaring comeback in 2023 with the two biggest hits of the year – Pathaan and Jawan, the latter produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the production company and VFX house he co-founded. In the process, the great romantic star of the modern era, known at home as “SRK,” the “King of Bollywood” or simply “King Khan,” reinvented himself as an action hero,” the description read.
Mukesh Ambani’s description read, “The world’s 11th-richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani has a net worth of $88.1 billion. He chairs India’s Reliance Industries, with a market cap of $190 billion and interests in petrochemicals, telecom and retail.”
Siddharth Roy Kapur was also among the names curated by Variety. The producer brought forth Rocket Boys featuring Jim Sarbh, Ishwas Singh. The publication described his achievements, “Earlier this year, he debuted season two of his acclaimed Hindi-language fact-based drama series “Rocket Boys,” about India’s efforts to become a nuclear power, which was carried by Indian streaming platform SonyLIV.”
Meanwhile, Aditya Chopra has been taking the legacy of Yash Chopra forward with recent blockbusters like Pathaan and Tiger 3. Variety described him, “Chopra led Yash Raj Films (YRF) to historic success in 2023 with the action thriller “Pathaan,” toplined by three of India’s biggest stars, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The latest entry in the YRF spy universe- following Tiger Zinda Hai, War and Tiger 3 – it earned more than $126 million at the global box office, making it one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of all time.”
As for Jr NTR who was part of Oscar winning Indian film RRR, Variety lauded his ‘chameleon-like’ ability. The publication wrote, “NTR Jr, as he is known, has the chameleon-like ability to slip into any role while maintaining the larger-than-life hero quality that is essential for mainstream Indian cinema success.”
Ektaa Kapoor known for producing some of the most Iconic television shows has been a trailblazer in the OTT space as well. Describing her achievement, Variety wrote, “When Kapoor accepted her International Emmy Directorate Award in November, becoming the first Indian woman to be so honored, she recalled how she and her mother, Shobha Kapoor, started Balaji Telefilms from their garage in 1994 and were frequently referred to as ‘lady producers’.”
Bhushan Kumar runs the biggest music labels of T-Series and has produced Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal, which created a storm at the box office was called the ‘youngest Kumar’ in the article,
“Some of India’s 2022 and 2023 box-office hits, including Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2,Drishyam 2 and Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, bear the T-Series banner, and a 100-film slate is on tap for the next three years, with anticipated 2024 titles The Diplomat, Metro in Dino and the third film in the Aashiqui franchise leading the way. Additionally, T-Series has been diversifying into both producing series for streamers and deepening its already wide music footprint in India,” the description read.
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