Akshay Kumar pips Deepika Padukone in celebrity brand ranking; Kohli continues at top spot: Report

Actor Akshay Kumar has pipped Deepika Padukone in celebrity brand ranking with the Khiladi star's value rising to USD 104.5 million, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Cricketer Virat Kohli continues to hold the top spot with a brand value of USD 237.5 million, Duff and Phelps' celebrity brand valuation report for 2019 said.

Padukone, who was ranked at number two last year, has slipped to number three with a brand valuation of USD 93.5 million, while Kumar has replaced her as the second most-valued celebrity, the report said.

Padukone invited the ire of a lot of people by showing up at protests at JNU against a violent attack on students, while Kumar was in the news for interviewing Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his landslide win in the general elections.

Both Padukone and Kumar had a slew of popular releases during the year. Padukone shares the number-three spot with actor-husband Ranveer Singh, who was ranked at number four in the year-ago period.

Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan continue to hold on to their number six and five spots, with brand values of USD 55.7 million and USD 66.1 million, respectively, it said.

Aamir Khan has had a major slip in ranking by brand value to 16th place with a total value of USD 24.9 million, as against 11th place in the year-ago period.

Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan's rank has also slipped to eighth from the seventh rank in the year-ago period with a value of USD 42.5 million, and has swapped placed with Alia Bhatt, whose current value is USD 45.8 million.

There have been new entrants in the top-20 list like Article-15 actor Ayushman Khurana at rank 10 with a value of USD 40.3 million, Jackie Shroff's actor son Tiger at rank 17 with a USD 24.2 million brand worth and cricketer Rohit Sharma at 20th rank.

The top-20 celebrity brands are from cricket and films and are collectively worth over USD 1.1 billion.

The agency said it relied on a brand analysis, endorsement value and brand multiple parameters while determining the value of a particular celebrity brand.