Bollywood superstars Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra have made it to Variety Magazine’s list of 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global USD 2 trillion entertainment industry among the dozen Indians listed.
Amongst the 12 Indians, the list includes writer-director Karan Johar, Star India CEO Uday Shankar, Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra, Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films, Balaji Telefilms’ Ekta Kapoor, Zee Entertainment CEO Punit Goenka and Siddharth Kapur of The Film and Television Producers Guild of India Ltd, Billionaire Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil.
According to Variety, Salman is one of the unrelated Khan triumvirate comprising Aamir and Shah Rukh that has been ruling the Bollywood box office for decades. Of the top ten grossing films of all time, Salman has three, as does Shah Rukh, while Aamir has four. It further said, “Unlike his contemporary Khans whose fan bases are staid by comparison, every Salman release generates mass hysteria across India, a frenzy surpassed only by the fans of South Indian superstar Rajinikanth.”
On Priyanka, Variety said, “"Although she had envisioned an engineering career, Chopra changed direction after winning the 2000 Miss World Pageant, when she received offers to act in Indian films. Variety’s Derek Elley praised her solid screen debut in Bollywood with 2003’s The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. But her career took off after she played the love interest in Hrithik Roshan’s Krrish in 2006."
Priyanka Chopra moved to U.S. television. She stars in ABC’s Quantico, which will return for a third season. The network is also developing a comedy with her to executive produce about a former Bollywood star. Chopra voiced Kaa in 2016’s live-action Jungle Book and starred in the Baywatch film. She still acts in Indian films including Bajirao Mastani, which came out in 2015," the bio continued.
On the professional front, both the stars will be seen reuniting on screen for Ali Abbas Zafar's ‘Bharat’, which is slated for an Eid 2019 release.
