Mukesh Ambani, SRK, Aamir among Variety's 500 Most Important People

Picture Courtesy: Mid-day Archives

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan are among the 10 Indians who feature in Variety magazine's list of 500 Most Important People in Global Media List.

Bollywood producers Aditya Chopra, Ekta Kapoor, Ronnie Screwala, and Siddharth Roy Kapur have also made it to the list, as have Kishore Lulla, executive chairman of Eros International, and Uday Shankar, president of The Walt Disney Company, APAC.

The leading magazine described Shah Rukh as one of Indian cinema's great global romantic stars, winning most popular actor three times at the Central European Bollywood Awards. Variety also explained how SRK's production company Red Chillies Entertainment has carved a niche in the business showbiz.

"A thriving actor-producer, he co-produced Zero, in 2018 through his VFX house Red Chillies Entertainment, but it underwhelmed. Undeterred, Red Chillies hit big with thriller Badla in 2019, and the company has its eight-episode political espionage series Bard of Blood currently running on Netflix. Inducted into AMPAS in 2018, Khan has been making his mark for decades. His romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has been playing nonstop for 24 years, and Dil Se was the first Indian film to break into the U.K. top 10. He also co-owns cricket teams Kolkata Knight Riders and Trinbago Knight Riders," the description added.

On Aamir Khan, Variety spoke about his hit films, calling him the perfectionist. "After decades as a hugely popular Bollywood, actor-producer-director, the 2018 Khan starrer Thugs of Hindostan'was a disappointment - but only by his own exalted standards. Budgeted at $32 million, the film grossed $54 million, including $9 million in China. By contrast, his 2016 Dangal was India's all-time highest grosser, earning $310 million, $190 million of it from China. Khan is currently remaking the iconic Forrest Gump titled Laal Singh Chaddha for 2020. The admitted perfectionist burst out in 2001 when his Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India was up for the foreign-language Oscar. Since then, his name has been attached to some of India's biggest hits, including PK, 3 Idiots and Dhoom 3. He was inducted into the Academy in 2017," read the write-up on Variety's site.

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