Salman tops Forbes India celebrity list for 2016, SRK at no 2

Mumbai: Superstar Salman Khan has bagged the top spot on the 2016 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List with earnings of Rs 270.33-crore during the year.Salman beat fellow superstar Shah Rukh Khan to the second spot with earnings of Rs 221.75-crore during the year.According to Forbes, there has not been a single year when either Shah Rukh or Salman has not been No 1 on their Celebrity 100 List.

While Shahrukh has been at number one thrice, Salman has bagged the position twice.
According to the magazine, Salman Khan had a strong year, led by the commercial success of the Sooraj Barjatya-directed Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which released in late 2015, and Sultan, which hit screens in 2016.

His total earnings constituted 9.84 percent of the total wealth—Rs 2,745-crore -- of all the top 100 celebrities for the year. At number 3 spot is india's Test cricket captain Virat Kohli who is also the most popular celebrity.

His consistent performances across all formats -- Tests, ODIs and T20s -- a nd his earnings, and his leading spot among sports personalities has led to his rise to No 3 from No 7 last year.
At number 4 is Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, thanks to the commercial successes of movies 'Airlift ', 'Rustom' and Housefull 3, besides a growing list of brand endorsements.
For only the second time since the list came into being have two woman actors broken into the top 10.

Deepika Padukone is at No 6 and Priyanka Chopra at No 8 thanks to success of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani' as also their growing international presence.Whole Priyanka Chopra made her presence felt with the American television series Quantico and has the Hollywood movie Baywatch lined up for release in 2017, Deepika Padukone is making her Hollywood debut in the movie 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage', scheduled to hit screens in January 2017.

In 2012, it was Kareena Kapoor Khan (now No 38) and Katrina Kaif (No 25), who featured in the top ten .Hrithik Roshan maintained his position at No 10 despite starring in the box office failure Mohenjo Daro, reaffirming the point that the commercial performance of a movie may not necessarily impact the earnings and fame of a celebrity.

Actor Ranveer Singh who has steadily marched up the Forbes India Celebrity List, led by the box office success of the historical epic 'Bajirao Mastani' , directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali , fugured at No 75.Singer Arijit Singh was at number 15 with chartbuster in movies such as Airlift, Dilwale, Talvar, Mohenjo Daro, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Akira and Baaghi.Others who figured in the list included superstar Rajinikanth, at number 39 thanks to the Tamil gangster-drama Kabali, .

superstar Aamir Khan, who maintains a high position on the list on the basis of his popularity, former opening batsman Virender Sehwag ( No 25), Actor Bipasha Basu (at No 71), the musical trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who are back (at No 83), celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor (at No 73), badminton star PV Sindhu at No 62 and Rapper Badshah (at No 81).(UNI)