Reigning stars from the south

The phenomenon of shining older star power isn’t restricted only to the Hindi film industry. In the southern film industry, the ‘youngest’ super-successful actor is the 57-year-old Mohanlal. Winner of five National Awards, his film Pulimurugan (2016), made on a modest budget of Rs 25 crore, has already crossed Rs 152 crore. In that year, he had four releases and a gross collection of Rs 378 crore, and he is still counting.

Next in line is the 61-year-old Chiranjeevi. His last film, Khaidi No. 150, released in January this year, has so far made a whopping Rs 1.3 billion. Then in line are the legends. It seems older the star, bigger the box office collection. Who can deny the popularity of Kamal Haasan (63), Mammootty (66), and of course, Thalaiva Rajinikanth (67).

Even Amitabh Bachchan (74), who is the oldest active actor of the Hindi film industry, can’t beat the popularity of Rajinikanth. Thalaiva’s last film, Kabali, is said to have garnered Rs 477 crore. Earlier, the film Enthiran had Rs 289 crore collection. ThoongaaVanam of Kamal Haasan, who is a winner of three National Awards and known to experiment with his image and stories, fetched him Rs 95 crore.

His earlier highly acclaimed films Vishwaroopam and Dasavathaaram had garnered Rs 220 crore and Rs 200 crore respectively. Then there is Mammootty, winner of so many awards that one loses track of them. His latest, The Great Father, is supposed to have collected Rs 20 crore on the opening day itself. It is believed to have been made on a modest budget of Rs 6 crore.

If reports are to be believed, Mohanlal will be acting in the costliest film of India, the Rs 1,000-crore-budget film Randamoozham. Who says these actors are AGED!