Shah Rukh Khan and Jr NTR. (courtesy: PoojaDadlani)
International publication Variety has published its annual list of 500 most influential people in showbusiness and it features 10 names from India. Actors Shah Rukh Khan and Jr NTR are on the list as are filmmakers Aditya Chopra, SS Rajamouli, and producers Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ektaa Kapoor and Bhushan Kumar. Industrialist Mukesh Ambani, who owns media company Viacom18, is also on the list as are Red Sea Film Festival founder Shivani Pandya Malhotra and NP Singh, CEO of Sony Pictures. Variety picks its list of 500 from those "who innovate, take risks, stimulate growth and make impactful moves that attract the attention of both consumers and industry professionals."
Shah Rukh Khan has had a blockbuster year with three films out. Variety wrote, "Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan made a roaring comeback in 2023 with the two biggest hits of the year – Pathaan and Jawan, the latter produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, the production company and VFX house he co-founded. In the process, the great romantic star of the modern era, known at home as "SRK," the "King of Bollywood" or simply "King Khan," reinvented himself as an action hero." Shah Rukh Khan's third release of the year, Dunki, is now playing. The film marks Shah Rukh Khan and Rajkumar Hirani's first collaboration.
Jr NTR, who acted in the Oscar-winning RRR and also made to the Academy's actors branch, has found a place in Variety 500. "NTR Jr, as he is known, has the chameleon-like ability to slip into any role while maintaining the larger-than-life hero quality that is essential for mainstream Indian cinema success," wrote Variety.
Shah Rukh Khan's first blockbuster of the year, Pathaan, was produced by Yash Raj Films, run by Aditya Chopra. For the camera-shy producer, Variety wrote, "Chopra led Yash Raj Films (YRF) to historic success in 2023 with the action thriller "Pathaan," toplined by three of India's biggest stars, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The latest entry in the YRF spy universe- following Tiger Zinda Hai, War and Tiger 3 - it earned more than $126 million at the global box office, making it one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of all time."
Siddharth Roy Kapur produced this year's critically acclaimed series Rocket Boys headlined by Jim Sarbh and Ishwak Singh. Variety wrote about his achievements: "Earlier this year, he debuted season two of his acclaimed Hindi-language fact-based drama series "Rocket Boys," about India's efforts to become a nuclear power, which was carried by Indian streaming platform SonyLIV."
Ektaa Kapoor received the prestigious International Emmy Directorate Award this year. Variety described her in these words - "When Kapoor accepted her International Emmy Directorate Award in November, becoming the first Indian woman to be so honored, she recalled how she and her mother, Shobha Kapoor, started Balaji Telefilms from their garage in 1994 and were frequently referred to as 'lady producers'."
Producer Bhushan Kumar, whose most recent release was Animal, has been described as "the younger Kumar" who "took over the business at the tender age of 19 and grew it to its current level." Variety wrote, "Some of India's 2022 and 2023 box-office hits, including Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2,Drishyam 2 and Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, bear the T-Series banner, and a 100-film slate is on tap for the next three years, with anticipated 2024 titles The Diplomat, Metro in Dino and the third film in the Aashiqui franchise leading the way. Additionally, T-Series has been diversifying into both producing series for streamers and deepening its already wide music footprint in India."
Mukesh Ambani's achievements have been described in these words, "The world's 11th-richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani has a net worth of $88.1 billion. He chairs India's Reliance Industries, with a market cap of $190 billion and interests in petrochemicals, telecom and retail."
Shivani Pandya Malhotra's feats “built the Red Sea International Film Festival from scratch in the ancient city of Jeddah, located in Dubai, a country that had only recently lifted a 35-year ban on commercial movie theaters,” wrote Variety. “In its second year, the fest hosted nearly 40,000 filmgoers and 4,345 film professionals over 10 days in December 2022 and boasted a jury hosted by Oliver Stone."
NP Singh also made to the list of Variety 500. "Singh spent two years fighting to win regulatory approval of the merger of his Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) with rival Zee Entertainment while continuing to grow its preexisting properties, such as its VOD platform SonyLIV (India's third-ranked streaming service, with more than 38 million subscribers), SET (the country's third most subscribed TV channel) and SET India (the world's fourth most popular YouTube channel in terms of subscribers, at 165 million), " wrote Variety.