Celebrity brand valuations of top Bollywood actors have largely remained unaffected through the pandemic although Hindi language films have been the slowest to recover after the health crisis with three superhits -- OMG2, Gadar 2 and Jawan -- resuscitating the Hindi box office only since August 2023.
After the pandemic impact, the Indian Box Office rebounded in 2022 with an annual gross box office collection of Rs 10,637 crore, according to Ormax Media’s report. While other languages reported healthy recoveries, Hindi has been the slowest to recover. In 2022, Hindi accounted for Rs 3,513 crore or 33% due to back-to-back flops. The scenario, however, has improved since August where OMG2, Gadar 2 and Jawan have had successful runs at the theatres.
Although Bollywood’s box office collection remained underwhelming in 2022, Duff & Phelps’ Celebrity Brand Valuation list of top 10 is overwhelmingly dominated by Bollywood actors. They occupied 7 out of the top 10 spots. At a total 727.4 million in brand value, they accounted for 80% of the top 10’s $904.3 million brand value.
Manish Porwal, MD of Alchemist Marketing Solutions, says that after the long stay that celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan or Akshay Kumar have had, they earn a certain star value which cannot be completely wiped off by a few flops, unless their personal reputation itself takes a hit.
Despite Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani being his only hit in these past two years, Ranveer Singh with his massive brand endorsement portfolio leads the list in 2022. He jumped to the top with a brand value of $181.7 million, which is $23.4 million higher than it was in 2021.
While Alia Bhatt retained her fourth position with a brand value crossing the $100 million milestone, Deepika Padukone rejoined the league of India’s top five celebrity brand endorsers in 2022 with a brand value of $82.9 million.
Shah Rukh Khan’s brand value in 2022 is estimated at $55.7 million, according to Duff & Phelps. It has plunged from $106 million in 2017, when he first lost the top spot to Virat Kohli. But it is expected to gain 20-30 per cent on the successes of Pathaan and Jawan.