Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan have been the undoubted superstars of the Hindi film industry since the mid-1990s, taking it in turns to reign supreme.
But with Dangal smashing records worldwide, Salman suffering a rare flop and Shah Rukh without a major hit of three years, the crown for now is firmly placed on Aamir’s head.
Khan plays the role of wrestling coach Mahavir Singh Phogat who defies the odds by raising his daughters Geeta and Babita Phogat to become champion wrestlers.
Geeta won gold for India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games while Babita topped the podium at the 2014 edition.
Critics say the movie resonated because it was a patriotic story about a triumphant underdog that dealt with India’s skewed attitude towards girls, and credit a large part of Aamir’s success to his careful choosing of movies with a message.
“Aamir is one person who really puts a lot of thought and effort into selecting films that are relevant to an Indian audience. There are very few actors who really do enough of that,” film distributor Akshaye Rathi told.
“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,” Rathi explained.
