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Shah Rukh Khan vs Salman Khan vs Aamir Khan: Who’s The Real ‘King Khan’ of Bollywood?

Published on: September 23, 2016 at 2:08 AM
By Patricia Grannum

Shah Rukh Khan , Salman Khan , and Aamir Khan are three of the biggest Bollywood superstars working today. And they all just happen to have the same last name. While all three of these actors have very dedicated and vocal fanbases and incomes that rival the best paid Hollywood actors, we’re wondering who is the real ‘King Khan’ of Bollywood? Who is the best out of the three in terms of social media followings, brand power, and box office numbers?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knk6eMv80hw

Social Media Followings

Today, the size of an actor’s social media following can give you a broad idea of how popular he or she is. So in the battle of the Khans, if we judge by total social media fans across the major platforms, Salman nudges out Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan to take the crown.

Salman Khan currently has 19.5 million fans on Twitter and six million followers on Instagram. He also has a Facebook page that has been liked by 32 million people.

SRK currently has 23.1 million followers on Twitter and has 3.5 million followers on Instagram. His Facebook page has been liked by approximately 20.5 million people. So, Salman Khan’s larger Facebook following helps give him the edge over Shah Rukh.

Aamir Khan does not have a personal Instagram account but he does have a Twitter page with 18.5 million followers and a Facebook page with 15 million likes on it.

Brand Power and Income

In terms of brand power, Shah Rukh Khan has to undoubtedly take the crown in this category. In fact, Forbes India reports that the bulk of his income, after film earnings comes from his celebrity endorsements. The Raees actor is the face of a long list of over 20 South Asian and international brands.

According to an article on The Hindu , SRK has been the face of Hyundai India for the past twenty years. He is also a brand ambassador for Tag Heuer, Airtel, Videocon, Emami, Pepsodent, and Dish TV, among others, according to Maps Of India. He’s also the owner of a couple of brands himself, including an Indian Premier League team, The Kolkata Knight Riders.

The strength of Shah Rukh Khan’s brand power has undoubtedly helped to grow his income. Earlier this year, SRK’s net worth helped him make it onto Forbes’ list of highest-paid actors in the world where he ranked at number eight.

Salman Khan was on the list too, ranked at No. 14. Aamir Khan did not make it to the Forbes list.

According to Forbes , Shah Rukh made $33 million in the past year which also qualified him to join the top 100 highest paid celebrities in the world where he ranked at number 86.

Although he’s been the face of many brands and is still popular among fans, some say Salman Khan’s brand power has faded a bit in recent years, mostly due to run-ins with the law and controversial comments in the press.

READ MORE: SALMAN KHAN SPARKS OUTRAGE IN INDIA FOR ‘RAPED WOMAN’ STATEMENT

As for Aamir Khan, according to an article published in The Economic Times in February, the Dangal actor currently has no celebrity endorsements in his portfolio despite being one of the most expensive Bollywood brand ambassadors last year. That is apparently because Aamir is very particular about which brands he attaches his name to, an insider source said at the time.

“Khan and his team are in discussion with some brands and an announcement will happen when something concrete comes out,” the source added.

Aamir also lost one of his endorsement deals recently when e-commerce firm Snapdeal decided not to renew his contract after the actor made comments in the press about growing intolerance in India.

Box Office Numbers

That is where things get interesting. It looks like although SRK has been called the Leonardo DiCaprio of Bollywood, Salman Khan is the actor out of all three Khans with the biggest box office numbers. As a July article in The Hindustan Times notes, when you tally up the opening day box office earnings for their last three movies, Salman Khan crushes both SRK and Aamir.

So, based on our informal analysis, Salman Khan is the true ‘King Khan’ of Bollywood, winning both the box office and social media categories. But who do you think is the best Khan? SRK, Salman, or Aamir? Let us know in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Anthony Harvey and Christopher Furlong/Getty Images]

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