Aishwarya Rai most bankable Indian star in Hollywood

New York, Feb 19 (IANS) Forbes has listed Aishwarya Rai as India’s most bankable star in Hollywood, pushing down the Khans of Bollywood in the ratings of the best bet for a film’s financial success.Aishwarya is among six Bollywood actors in the new Forbes list of Hollywood’s Most Valuable Actors. Other Indians on the list compiled by the American business magazine are Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Irrfan Khan and Hrithik Roshan.

Although at 387th position in the global list of as many as 1,411 actors from across the world, Aishwarya is ranked highest among all Indian actors and is the only female actor from the country who made it to this elite club. The list also includes Indian American actor Kal Penn, whose films include “The Namesake”.

At 476th position, he is ranked higher than all the Bollywood actors, except Aishwarya Rai, who stars in the new Hollywood venture “The Pink Panther 2″. Among the male Bollywood actors, Aamir is ranked highest at 540th in the global list, followed by Shah Rukh (735), Salman (753), Irrfan (825) and Hrithik (1,059).

The global list, topped by Hollywood actor Will Smith, is based on the bankability of actors around the world as voted by members of the global entertainment industry, Forbes said. Smith is the only actor to get a ten-on-ten score and is followed by four Hollywood stars - Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie - sharing the second position. These are followed by Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson in the top 10.