Virat Kohli and Akshay Kumar to Rishab Pant and Neha Kakkar: Stars on a roll in the 2019 Celebrity 100 list
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Akshay Kumar
Rank 2
Akshay Kumar dominated 2019 with multiple releases and setting the box office on fire. His recent release, Housefull 4, earned ₹278.78 crore worldwide. His other two films, Kesari and Mission Mangal, collected ₹151.87 crore and ₹192.67 crore respectively. Kumar has an interesting lineup of films scheduled for 2020, including Sooryavanshi and Laxmmi Bomb. A significant chunk of his earnings comes from endorsements, with more than 20 brands in his kitty.
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Ajay-Atul
Rank 22
Brothers, Ajay and Atul are ranked No 22 on the 2019 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List. Last seen on the list in 2015 ranked 82, their comeback is backed by a bunch of live shows along with playback singing in a few films, including Thugs of Hindostan, Zero and Super 30, in the time period under consideration. The duo also composed the theme song for Sony TV’s Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 11.
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Neha Kakkar
Rank 29
Neha Kakkar fell off the list for a year, but her rank went up from 64 in 2017 to 29 in 2019. Kakkar was among those with the highest number of live shows to go with her playback singing in movies as well as albums, including Yo Yo Honey Singh’s Makhna. At 30 million, she has the highest number of Instagram followers for any musician. Her appearance in the 2018 and 2019 seasons of Indian Idol built her image as an ‘emotional’ judge.
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Rishabh Pant
Rank 30
It’s been a roller-coaster ride for the diminutive and hard-hitting wicket-keeper batsman. Rishab Pant had a busy season, playing eight Tests, 12 one-day internationals and 17 T20s in the period under consideration. However, he lost his place in the Test team towards the end of the year to specialist keeper Wriddhiman Saha. His risky batting style, erratic wicket-keeping and fans of MS Dhoni make him a constant talking point on social media.
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Ranbir Kapoor
Rank 45
After the release of the blockbuster sanju (2018), Ranbir Kapoor has been shooting for Brahmastra and Shamshera, both scheduled for a 2020 release. Since the success of Sanju, Kapoor has been charging ₹4-5 crore on an average for brand endorsements. He currently endorses over 10 brands, including Lays and Tag Heuer, and was signed by Coca-Cola as its brand ambassador earlier in 2019. His earnings were pegged at ₹45 crore, but since he is not on social media, he finds himself at No 45 on the list.
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Guru Randhawa
Rank 49
The 28-year-old singer and songwriter makes his debut on 2019 forbes India Celebrity 100 list. Gursharanjot Singh Randhawa, popularly known as Guru Randhawa, shot to fame with ‘High Rated Gabru’ which became the first Indian non-film song to gather the fastest 100 million views. In 2017, he made his Bollywood debut in the Irrfan Khan-starrer film, Hindi Medium; the song was a remake of his single ‘Suit’. Recently, he collaborated with American rapper Pitbull for the song ‘Slowly Slowly’.
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Zoya Akhtar
Rank 83
Zoya Akhtar had much to celebrate in 2019. After directing Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in Gully Boy, she cut her teeth in the burgeoning business of web television with Made in Heaven, a series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video. Gully Boy, a movie that narrates the coming-of-age story of a struggling rapper, was selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars. It raked in ₹238 crore at the box office. Made in Heaven has a rating of 8.3 on IMDB.
