Popular Indian actors Jr NTR and Ram Charan who were seen together in the hit period drama RRR, have jointly topped an annual UK list of the ‘Top 50 Asian Celebrities in the World' published by the UK weekly Eastern Eye. The Telugu film stars have been ranked ahead of other South Asian stars for breaking international records and for securing two Golden Globe nominations for RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli. The 2022 list, set to be published in the UK weekly Eastern Eye on Friday, December 16, hails the duo for drawing global attention to regional language cinema in India.
“Jr NTR and Ram Charan breathed fire into cinema halls with RRR and ignited the kind of interest in commercial Indian films from a cross-cultural audience globally, including international media, not seen before,” Asjad Nazir, Eastern Eye's Entertainment Editor who compiled the list, told PTI.
“It led to RRR campaigning in all the major categories for the 2023 Oscars, winning honours like the Spotlight Award from the Hollywood Critics Association and getting two Golden Globe nominations. The heroes also drew attention to regional language cinema in India, which resulted in multiple movie successes away from the commercial Bollywood space,” added Nazir.
RRR follows a fictional story set in the pre-Independence era, woven around the lives of two Indian revolutionaries -- Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem (played by Jr NTR) -- in the 1920s. The film released in March in five languages including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. It also co-starred Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn in key roles. Actors Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn were also roped in for pivotal roles in the movie.
The Top 50 list reportedly spotlights South Asian stars across cinema, music and the arts who made a mark in 2022 with their incredible work, creating a positive impact, breaking boundaries, shattering glass ceilings or by just being inspiring in their own unique way. It involves public input with countless social media posts nominating the favourites.
Pakistani superstar Fawad Khan came in second for his film The Legend of Maula Jatt, which had a massive box office run in Pakistan and set a new bar for the country's cinema industry. He is also recognised for a winning appearance in the Disney+ superhero series Ms Marvel.
British-Indian actor Simone Ashley, who became one of the biggest breakout South Asian stars of 2023 with her role in season two of the popular Netflix series Bridgerton, has been placed at the third rank. She also rose to fame for speaking out against colourism in the industry.
Placed at the fourth rank is Alia Bhatt, one of the most popular Bollywood actors in recent times, who starred in films like Gangubai Kathiawadi, RRR, Darlings and Brahmastra: Part One-Shiva and also signed Heart of Stone, her first Hollywood film. Pakistani-Canadian actor Iman Vellani comes in at fifth for her portrayal of a teenage Muslim superhero in Ms Marvel.
Other high-ranking celebrities in the list includ Yash (sixth) with the grand success of KGF: Chapter 2 and playback singer Shreya Ghoshal (seventh) as the highest ranked singer for hit songs in multiple languages and worldwide arena shows.
At number eight, the highest placed television star is Tejasswi Prakash for winning the 15th edition of Hindi reality Television show Bigg Boss and her role in the Hindi TV soap Naagin. Singer and songwriter Charli XCX and popular Indian actor Allu Arjun of Pushpa: The Rise also made it to the top 10 names in the list.
The oldest star in the 2022 list is 80-year-old Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan (30th) and the youngest is 19-year-old Bigg Boss 16 contestant Sumbul Touqeer Khan (44th).
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