Around twenty years ago, crossing 100 crore at the Indian box office was considered a huge achievement. This trend started when Aamir Khan’s film Ghajini reached that milestone. For many years, this remained the gold standard for success in Indian cinema.
Everything changed when Baahubali 2 The Conclusion broke records and introduced the concept of the 1000 crore club. At first, only a couple of films managed to reach this level, including Dangal after its massive success in China. But after the pandemic, things shifted quickly. Many more films began crossing the 1000 crore mark, and today, the list has grown to include around ten major films.
What surprises many people is the actor who leads this list. While most would expect names like Shah Rukh Khan or Prabhas to dominate, the top spot actually belongs to Sanjay Dutt. The veteran actor has appeared in four films that have earned more than 1000 crore worldwide, which is the highest for any Indian actor so far.
Sanjay Dutt achieved this by working in films across different languages and industries. During the pandemic years, he became especially popular in South Indian films, often playing strong villain roles. His first 1000 crore film was KGF Chapter 2. Later, he appeared in Jawan, which also crossed the 1000 crore mark, although his role in that film was small compared to the lead actor Shah Rukh Khan.
He further strengthened his position with supporting roles in the two Dhurandhar films, both of which were huge box office successes. This makes him the only Indian actor to be part of four of the highest grossing Indian films ever.
Other stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Prabhas, and Ranveer Singh have two films each in this elite group. Meanwhile, actors such as Aamir Khan, Yash, Ram Charan, and Jr NTR have one film each. Among female stars, Deepika Padukone leads with three films including Pathaan, Jawan, and Kalki 2898 AD.
Looking ahead, the 1000 crore club is expected to grow even bigger. With rising ticket prices and increasing popularity of Indian films worldwide, more movies are likely to join this elite group. Upcoming projects like SS Rajamouli’s Varanasi and Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana films are already being seen as strong contenders.