 "IMDb's top star of 2024: Tripti Dimri, Ishan Khatter beat Bollywood icons")
Tripti Dimri has beaten the likes of Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt and Prabhas to become India’s most popular movie star for 2024. The 29-year old who was part of Animal, Laila Majnu and Bhool Bhulaiya 3 has claimed the top spot on IMDb’s list for the top ten stars outshining some of the biggest names in Indian cinema.
Another 29-year-old, Ishan Khatter comes in at number three. He has expanded his fan base with a second international TV series, The Perfect Couple (Netflix) where he stars with Nicole Kidman among others. A Suitable Boy (2020) was Khatter’s first. His talent has shone right from his first film by Iranian director Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds (2017). Sharvari, who starred in the hit Munjya, Maharaj and Vedaa this year joins the top ten adding to the mix of very young actors along with the older names. The list is proof that entertainment and stardom are now a pan-Indian phenomenon, much like our films.
IMDb rankings, which have been around since 2017, are based on page views of more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. Stars who consistently ranked the highest on the IMDb weekly rankings throughout 2024 make it to the top ten. IMDb, a subsidiary of Amazon since 1998, is a global authority on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. IMDbPro, a paid service, is routinely used by studios, agents, distributors and actors globally.
Going by the lists for 2023 and 2022, it seems to depend on how prolific an actor has been and how often he/she has been in the news. For instance, Sobhita Dhulipala, at number five made her Hollywood debut in Monkey Man, dubbed for Padukone in Kalki 2898 AD and her engagement to Telugu star Naga Chaitanya Akkineni was in the news. On the other hand with no releases, some stars such as Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan consistently appear in the weekly rankings due to their enduring popularity. Shah Rukh Khan, high on the success of Pathaan, Jawaan and Dunki, topped the list in 2023. In 2022, it was Dhanush with Thiruchitrambalam and a role in Ryan Gosling starrer, The Gray Man. The lists for the last two years are completely different from the one for 2024. Why? “IMDb measures the popularity of Indian stars on page views. This allows us to capture trends across India’s entertainment industries, stemming from pan-India titles and the increased discovery of regional movies by a broader Indian audience,” says Yaminie Patodia, head of IMDb India.
Can these lists be doctored by stars and their PR teams? “Our proprietary algorithm for STARmeter rankings uses sophisticated data analysis to detect and neutralise any attempts at manipulation,” says Patodia.