Shah Rukh Khan has always been the undisputed king of overseas. Abroad, his movies always make more money than that of any other Indian actor. SRK's films even do well in the non-traditional markets, and not just the UK and US. While his supremacy in the international markets overall remains unchallenged, Aamir Khan's seem to be edging close.
In fact of-late he's leading among the three Khans. Of the top five grosses on foreign shores, the top three are PK, Dhoom 3 and 3 Idiots. All featuring Aamir. They are followed by SRK's Happy New Year and Chennai Express. The equation seems to be changing in the overseas market. The figures clearly state that Aamir's recent releases have been favoured more by the audience abroad in recent times.
On the domestic front, PK has collected around Rs340 crore, making it the biggest hit of Hindi cinema of all time. With his last film, Aamir broke the record of the previous all-time highest grosser Chennai Express, which has displaced Aami'r 3 Idiots. His film Talaash, which was rejected by the Indian audiences did better business abroad than it did back home.
Aamir is now exploring newer territories and non-traditional markets to expand his reach. 3 Idiots opened the territories of China and Japan, which have been witnessing more Bollywood film releases.
Trade Talk
Taran Adarsh: HNY didn't get the kind of numbers an SRK film gets
"There's a tough fight between Shah Rukh and Aamir in the overseas territory. Besides star-power, it's also about the film and its content. As of now, yes Aamir is having a dream run. But SRK is also a huge pull. Aamir's Dhoom 3 was already an established brand. PK had him coming back with Rajkumar Hirani after a massively successful 3 Idiots. Besides this, the film's content found high acceptance overseas. Though Happy New Year did very well, it didn't match the kind of numbers one has of an SRK film. It did lesser than Chennai Express. Aamir's Dhoom 3 and now PK have done put him in a great position."
Komal Nahta: The figures speak for themselves
"Out of the top five grossers overseas, three are Aamir's movies. The figures speak for themselves and Aamir's ranking in the overseas market. I think like the audience in India, even the audience abroad has started looking at Aamir's movies to be like an ISI mark. They associate his movies with quality and novelty. They know that if it's an Aamir Khan movie it must be something good. That's why his movies are doing so well."
Figures of the Top 5 overseas grossers
3 Idiots - $27,000,000 (Approx Rs1,676,295,000)
Dhoom 3 - $27,969,454 (Approx Rs1,736,483,550)
PK - $26,307,214 (Approx Rs1,633,020,300)
Chennai Express - $18,155,736 (Approx Rs1,127,017,310)
Happy New Year - $13,500,420 (Approx Rs838,173,575)
