Bollywood Hunks, Heroes Among World's Top Paid Actors

NEW DELHI—
Bollywood films, with their colorful sets and hyper-coordinated song-and-dance numbers, have catapulted five Indians into the ranks of the world's highest paid male actors.

Three of those actors — Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar — were in the top 10, outranking Hollywood A-listers such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The rankings, compiled by Forbes, were released last week and included actors working outside Hollywood, allowing an international comparison of star earnings for the first time.

That change also meant Hong Kong martial arts darling Jackie Chan was 2nd placed, with most of his $50 million in earnings last year made from films produced in China. American actor Robert Downey Jr. topped the list for the third year in a row, earning $80 million in 2014.  The two highest-paid Indian actors, Khan and Bachchan, tied for 7th, each earning $33.5 million last year.

“I am surprised it has taken so long” to get global rankings, said Bollywood publicist Raju Kariya, who has worked in the industry for more than 30 years. India's male actors, easily recognizable by their aviator sunglasses and tight designer clothes, are so popular that “everyone from 5-year-olds to elderly aunties are completely gaga over them.”