This feature unveils THR India’s Top 10 Screen Royalty, selected through a strict methodology that factors box office, role prominence and recent success. It celebrates a new generation of under-50 stars who command audiences across languages, from Allu Arjun and Prabhas to Deepika Padukone and Yash, examining how their filmographies, comebacks and future projects define contemporary Indian stardom.
ELIGIBILITY & METHODOLOGY
To qualify for consideration for this list, an actor must have appeared in a lead role in no fewer than five Indian theatrical films over the course of their career, with at least one such release since January 2020 that earned a gross box office of ₹50 crore or more.
All actors on the list were also required to be 50 years of age or younger as of 31 March 2026.
For each eligible actor, their film appearances between 1 January 2020 and 31 March 2026 were categorised as either a lead role or a supporting role based on the prominence of their presence in the film — cameos and guest appearances were excluded from the assessment entirely. A full weightage of 1.00 was assigned to lead roles, while supporting appearances were weighted at 0.33, reflecting the degree of their contribution to each film.
The gross domestic box office of every qualifying release was then tabulated accordingly, and a Net Score was calculated by dividing the weighted total box office by the total weightage assigned to that actor’s body of work.
To illustrate: An actor who fronted four films as a lead and appeared in a supporting capacity in two others would have their Net Score derived by adding the full box office of their four lead films to 33 per cent of the box office from their two supporting outings, then dividing that sum by 4.66 — the combined weightage of all six films. The 10 actors who ranked highest on this Net Score constitute the final list.
Allu Arjun
It’s easy to see why Allu Arjun goes by the moniker Icon Star. The Telugu actor is not just a titan on home turf in Tollywood but has rapidly become a name to reckon with in Hindi cinema, riding the incredible success and extraordinary wave of director Sukumar’s 2024 Telugu film, Pushpa 2: The Rule, at the worldwide box office.
Signs of his boundary-crossing appeal have always been evident. Arjun’s breakout role came with Arya (2004), directed by the same filmmaker, Sukumar, who would later give him nationwide admiration. Since then, he has delivered several hits: Bunny (2005), Vedam (2010), Race Gurram (2014) and the rare critical-and-commercial darling, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020).
NEXT RELEASE: The actor will be seen in Atlee’s much-anticipated science fiction spectacle, Raaka, co-starring Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone
There is a stillness to Deepika Padukone’s stardom that almost feels deceptive. Beneath the poise lies one of Hindi cinema’s most bankable and enduring forces — an actor who has consistently threaded together spectacle and nuance across two decades. From the aching restraint of Piku (2015) to the operatic scale of Padmaavat (2018) and the calibrated swagger of Pathaan (2023), she has moved between worlds without ever surrendering her centre.
In an industry addicted to noise, Padukone’s presence feels measured. Success, for her, has been less about domination and more about durability; a long game played with instinct and quiet control.
NEXT RELEASE: The actress will be seen in director Siddharth Anand’s action-thriller King, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan, and Atlee’s Raaka, co-starring Allu Arjun
Jr. NTR
Man of the Masses. That is a title N. T. Rama Rao Jr — otherwise known as Jr. NTR — has earned through a career defined by a strong emotional connection with his fans, right from the very beginning of his career. His screen presence is undeniable — it’s next to impossible to look away from him — and there’s an unpredictability to his performances. Even if one has seen every film in the actor's catalogue, audiences can never be quite sure what he’ll do next.
What makes him multi-dimensional is the breadth of his appeal. Fans watch his movies to enjoy his comedy scenes just as much as they love him in action and dance sequences. Outside of cinema, Jr. NTR is admired for how he speaks straight from the heart and for the warmth he shows his fans. His personal and professional journey — with setbacks and even stronger comebacks — only adds to his relatability, making him an everyman as much as he is a superman.
NEXT RELEASE: Action-thriller Dragon, directed by Prashanth Neel, co-starring Anil Kapoor, Rukmini Vasanth and Biju Menon
Prabhas
There are hardly any box office records that don’t feature the one-man juggernaut, Prabhas. Powered by sheer star appeal, he has carried multiple blockbusters on his shoulders, turning each into a global spectacle.
Always a major draw in the Telugu states, Prabhas rose to pan-India superstardom with S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017). A decade on, there has been no looking back. The actor has continued to shatter records with massive grossers such as Salaar: Part One – Ceasefire (2023) and Kalki 2898 AD (2024).
Now, he gears up for an ambitious slate that includes sequels to both Salaar and Kalki, alongside Fauzi and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit. The juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down.
NEXT RELEASE: Director Hanu Raghavapudi’s patriotic drama Fauzi and Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s action-drama Spirit, co-starring Triptii Dimri, Vivek Oberoi and Prakash Raj
Ram Charan
Ram Charan may have not announced himself with a debut blockbuster, the 2007 movie Chirutha, but his second film, S.S. Rajamouli’s Magadheera (2009), made him an instant superstar across South India. What followed was even rarer: a star who outgrew his family’s gargantuan legacy, not by distancing himself from it but by quietly building an identity powerful enough to stand entirely on its own.
RRR (2022) then catapulted him from a homegrown icon to a global force, drawing fans from not just across India, but places as far as Japan and the U.S.A.
Even in movies that stumbled at the box office — including last year’s Game Changer — Charan remained the silver lining, balancing two starkly different characters with ease and confidence. His next release Peddi, is among the most anticipated and hyped-up films in the country, with expectations inching towards records set by his cousin Allu Arjun with the two Pushpa films.
NEXT RELEASE: The sports action drama Peddi, directed by Buchi Babu Sana, co-starring Janhvi Kapoor, Shiva Rajkumar and Jagapathi
Ranbir Kapoor
Ranbir Kapoor’s career reads like a series of near misses that somehow add up to something richer than a straightforward ascent. He is both insider and outsider, a star who resists the grammar of stardom even as he embodies it.
From the wounded drift of Rockstar (2011) to the fractured masculinity of Animal (2023), Kapoor has built a filmography of men in search of themselves. There is indulgence here, and risk, and the occasional collapse, but rarely calculation.
Most actors engineer themselves for blockbusters. Kapoor’s appeal lies in his unpredictability, in the sense that each success feels stumbled upon rather than strategically seized. Perhaps that’s what makes him worth watching.
NEXT RELEASE: Nitesh Tiwari directed Ramayana 1 and 2, co-starring Sai Pallavi and Yash and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love and War, co-starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal
Ranveer Singh
With the one-two punch of the two Dhurandhar films, Ranveer Singh scripted a comeback worthy of sporting biopics. Hailed for his magnetic, all-consuming performance as the undercover spy Hamza/Jaskirat, the actor has bounced back from a shaky career phase to re-emerge as a major box-office force. In hindsight, this feels inevitable.
Over the years, Singh has built a formidable track record with wide-ranging hits such as Padmaavat (2018), Simmba (2018), Bajirao Mastani (2015), and Gully Boy (2019). This filmography boasts a rare synergy of spectacle and craft. If stardom were a racetrack, Singh, in 2026, is enjoying a well-earned victory lap.
NEXT RELEASE: The post-apocalyptic, zombie-themed Pralay, directed by Jai Mehta, co-produced by Ranveer’s own production house, Ma Kasam Films, and co-starring Kalyani Priyadarshan
Rishab Shetty
Actor, filmmaker, producer, Rishab Shetty is, in every sense of the word, a powerhouse in the Kannada film industry. He began as a director, making his debut with Rakshit Shetty’s Ricky, before emerging as an early changemaker in modern Kannada cinema with Kirik Party (2016), a massively successful coming-of-age drama that also starred Rakshit Shetty and Rashmika Mandanna.
He followed that up with the successful Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shale Kasaragodu (2018). As an actor, he built an impressive body of work across beloved Kannada productions: Lucia (2013), Ulidavaru Kandante (2014), Bell Bottom (2019), and Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (2021).
And then came Kantara. The 2022 film wasn’t conceived as a pan-Indian production, but it took on a life of its own, making waves far beyond Kannada cinema and cementing Shetty as a singular creative force in the Indian film industry. Its prequel, Kantara: Chapter 1, which Shetty directed, wrote and led as an actor, just as he did with the original, melded the powerful Bhoota Kola tradition of coastal Karnataka with visually evocative storytelling. Shetty will next be seen in Prasanth Varma’s Jai Hanuman.
NEXT RELEASE: Mythological action Jai Hanuman, directed by Prasanth Varma
Shraddha Kapoor
In the last decade and a half, Shraddha Kapoor has charted a steady, unhurried rise through Hindi cinema — building appeal the old-fashioned way, on consistency rather than scale or spectacle. Like the actresses of Bollywood’s Golden Era, she has let longevity do the talking.
After a string of early roles, Kapoor broke out with the 2013 hit romantic film, Aashiqui 2. She hit her commercial stride with the Baaghi franchise, becoming one of the most in-demand faces in the industry.
Her shiniest moments on screen came with the horror-comedy Stree (2018) and its blockbuster sequel, Stree 2 (2024). She also held her own in the sharp romantic comedy Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar in 2023, matching her co-star Ranbir Kapoor beat for beat.
Today, Kapoor is counted among the highest-paid female actors in Hindi cinema. She is also the most-followed Indian woman on Instagram, with a fanbase whose loyalty borders on devotion. Quiet in her ambition, undeniable in her reach.
NEXT RELEASE: A dance biopic, Eetha, directed by Laxman Utekar, co-starring Nana Patekar and Randeep Hooda
Yash
Sometimes, all it takes is one film to upend established star hierarchies and redefine what a pan-India spectacle can look like. Yash is a prime example. When KGF: Chapter 1 (2018) arrived — an ambitious Prashanth Neel film that few in North India had seen coming — it stamped its authority at the box office, seized the spotlight, and a nationwide star was born. As Rocky bhai, Yash became synonymous with style, power and a distinct ’70s Amitabh Bachchan-esque swagger.
He raised the bar further with KGF: Chapter 2 in 2022, which remains the highest-grossing Kannada film of all time. And he’s only getting started. Yash has an enviable line-up ahead: Toxic, co-written and produced by him, and the two-part epic Ramayana, in which he plays Ravana. Each project is a potential record-breaker on paper already.
NEXT RELEASE: Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, co-written and produced by him, directed by Geetu Mohandas, co-starring Kiara Advani, Nayanthara and Huma Qureshi