1950s
दिलीप कुमार
The first actor whose name alone could finance a film.
Kumar arrived as the studio system was collapsing into independent production, and became the collateral. Devdas, Naya Daur, Madhumati and Mughal-e-Azam are all inside a twelve-year window, and the last of them was the most expensive Indian film ever made — greenlit on the assumption he would carry it. His method-derived restraint also reset what screen acting meant here; every naturalist actor in this canon is downstream of him.
In this canon: Devdas · Naya Daur · Madhumati · Mughal-e-Azam
The argument against: Raj Kapoor, whose reach was arguably wider — Awaara made him a genuine star across the Soviet bloc, Turkey and the Middle East, which no Indian actor had managed before.
1960s
राजेंद्र कुमार
Nicknamed "Jubilee Kumar" because his films simply did not stop running.
The decade's most reliable commercial actor is not the one most remembered. Kumar strung together an extraordinary run of silver jubilees — films completing twenty-five consecutive weeks in cinemas — to the point that the nickname became the metric. He is the clearest case in Hindi film history of bankability and critical standing coming completely apart: almost none of his work is in this canon, and for most of the 1960s he was the safest money in the industry.
The argument against: Shammi Kapoor, who was the decade's cultural engine rather than its safest bet, and Rajesh Khanna, who arrived at the very end of it and changed the terms entirely.
1970s
राजेश खन्ना · अमिताभ बच्चन
The only decade with two answers, because the handover happened inside it.
Khanna's run between 1969 and 1972 is the most concentrated stardom Indian cinema has produced — a sequence of consecutive hits, and a level of public hysteria contemporaries described as unlike anything before or since. Then Zanjeer arrived in 1973 and the demand changed shape underneath him. Bachchan took Deewaar, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Don and Trishul inside five years and did not give the position back for a decade. The interesting part is that neither man got worse; the audience wanted a different film.
In this canon: Anand · Zanjeer · Deewaar · Sholay · Amar Akbar Anthony · Don · Trishul
The argument against: Nobody, really. This is the least contested entry on the list.
1980s
अमिताभ बच्चन
Held the position through the worst decade the industry has had.
The 1980s were brutal for Hindi cinema — video piracy gutted theatrical revenue and the mainstream response was to get louder and cheaper. Bachchan stayed the one dependable asset through it, including through a near-fatal injury on the set of Coolie in 1982 that became a national news event in its own right. That the decade's best writing happened at the margins, in Ardh Satya and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and Masoom, is the other half of the same story.
In this canon: Kaala Patthar · Silsila · Don
The argument against: Sridevi, who by the end of the decade was the rare actress who could open a film on her own name — Mr. India, Chandni, Nagina.
1990s
शाहरुख़ ख़ान
Turned the overseas market from a rounding error into a revenue stream.
The 1990s bankability question is really a distribution question. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dil To Pagal Hai discovered that diaspora audiences in Britain, North America and the Gulf would pay premium prices, and that a Hindi film could be built for them without losing India. DDLJ then ran continuously in one Mumbai cinema for more than twenty-five years, which is not a box-office record so much as a category error. Khan also did the least bankable thing available at the start — playing the villain in Baazigar and Darr — and it is what made him.
In this canon: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge · Kuch Kuch Hota Hai · Dil To Pagal Hai · Baazigar · Darr
The argument against: Salman Khan on the back of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, and Aamir Khan, who was already choosing differently from both of them.
2000s
आमिर ख़ान
Made scarcity the business model.
Khan's innovation was releasing roughly one film a year and making each one an event. Lagaan, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and 3 Idiots span a decade, and the strike rate is the point — audiences learned that an Aamir Khan release was pre-screened for them. He also took the marketing in-house in a way the industry then copied wholesale. 3 Idiots closed the decade as the highest-grossing Indian film to that date.
In this canon: Lagaan · Rang De Basanti · Taare Zameen Par · 3 Idiots · Dil Chahta Hai
The argument against: Shah Rukh Khan, still the bigger star globally, and Hrithik Roshan, who had the single biggest debut the industry had seen.
2010s
सलमान ख़ान
Owned a date on the calendar, which is a more durable asset than any single film.
For most of the decade a Salman Khan film released at Eid and cleared ₹200–300 crore domestically almost regardless of reviews — Dabangg, Ek Tha Tiger, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Sultan, Tiger Zinda Hai. No other actor has converted a release window into a franchise like that. Aamir Khan has the higher ceiling in the same decade, with PK and then Dangal, which remains the highest-grossing Hindi film ever made and did it largely in China.
In this canon: Bajrangi Bhaijaan · Dangal · PK
The argument against: Aamir Khan on totals, Akshay Kumar on volume — three or four releases a year at a consistently high strike rate.
2020s
शाहरुख़ ख़ान
One calendar year, two films past ₹1,000 crore, after four years away.
The decade opened with cinemas shut and a widely-held view that the Hindi star system was finished. Then Pathaan and Jawan both crossed ₹1,000 crore worldwide in 2023, from an actor who had not released a film since 2018. The decade is still being written — Stree 2 showed a non-star horror-comedy could out-earn most star vehicles, and Dhurandhar has since built a franchise from scratch — so this entry is the most provisional on the list.
In this canon: Jawan · Pathaan
The argument against: The films themselves. The 2020s so far look less like a star decade than a concept decade.