The two highest-grossing Indian films of 2024 have been as diverse and different in their content as they can be. First, there is Kalki 2898 AD, the sci-fi epic from Nag Ashwin featuring four of the biggest superstars from across India. It minted over Rs 1100 crore. Hot on its heels is the horror comedy Stree 2 starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, and Pankaj Tripathi. The film is inching towards the Rs 700-crore mark globally. There is little the two films can have in common but eventually they do. The connecting link is one actor, who plays a pivotal role in both blockbusters.
India’s highest-grossing actor of 2024
Sunil Kumar, the non-descript, largely unknown actor famed for his height, is the only man who has appeared in the year’s two biggest hits – Stree 2 and Kalki 2898 AD. Sunil, who stands 7’9”, famously played the headless ghost Sarkata in Stree 2 and is gaining a lot of praise and fame for his appearance. While the Sarkata’s face is CGI, Sunil has lent his massive frame for the character’s body.
His appearance in Kalki 2898 AD is of a similar nature. In the Nag Ashwin film, Sunil served as the body double for Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the giant Ashwatthama. Amitabh Bachchan appears as a nine-feet-tall Ashwatthama in the dystopian mythological film. But it is Sunil who serves as the character’s frame and body in many of the long shots and scenes requiring physical exertion. “Amitabh sir ke saath 1-1.5 months shooting hui thi. Ek mahina Prabhas sir ke saath. (I shot with Amitabh sir for nearly 1.5 months and worked with Prabhas sir for an entire month.),” Sunil revealed in an interview with Pinkvilla.
In both the films, it was Sunil’s massive frame that got him the opportunity. Together, the two films have earned over Rs 1800 crore, which makes Sunil the highest-grossing Indian actor of the year, ahead of Deepika Padukone (her two hits Kalki and Fighter have earned Rs 1500 crore). Just how special this distinction is can be gauged by the fact that in 2023, this crown rested on the head of Shah Rukh Khan, who grossed Rs 2700 crore with his three hits – Pathaan, Jawan, and Dunki.
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