The biggest Kollywood names
Star power counts what a person led rather than what they appeared in: the gross of the films they were top-billed in or directed, how that run held up, how many there were, how recent, and how audiences rated them. Every figure is a percentile inside Kollywood. 183 people qualify.
| # | Person | Films led | Gross led | Biggest | Star power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lokesh KanagarajDirector | 7 | $266M | Leo | 97 |
| 2 |  RajinikanthActor | 12 | $552M | 2.0 | 92 |
| 3 |  Trisha KrishnanActor | 7 | $182M | Leo | 91 |
| 4 |  VijayActor | 19 | $537M | Leo | 90 |
| 5 |  Vijay SethupathiActor | 14 | $196M | Vikram | 89 |
| 6 |  SuriyaActor | 13 | $244M | Karuppu | 88 |
| 7 |  Kamal HaasanActor | 6 | $177M | Vikram | 88 |
| 8 |  Ajith KumarActor | 11 | $225M | Viswasam | 87 |
| 9 |  Arjun SarjaActorTollywood | 6 | $126M | Leo | 87 |
| 10 |  ShankarDirector | 5 | $259M | 2.0 | 86 |
| 11 |  SivakarthikeyanActor | 8 | $118M | Amaran | 86 |
| 12 |  KarthiActor | 10 | $147M | Ponniyin Selvan: Part I | 85 |
| 13 |  A. R. MurugadossDirector | 7 | $169M | Sarkar | 84 |
| 14 |  Aishwarya Rai BachchanActorBollywood | 3 | $135M | Enthiran | 84 |
| 15 |  NayantharaActor | 10 | $190M | Bigil | 83 |
| 16 |  Nelson DilipkumarDirector | 4 | $133M | Jailer | 83 |
| 17 |  VikramActor | 8 | $154M | Ponniyin Selvan: Part I | 82 |
| 18 |  DhanushActor | 12 | $116M | Raayan | 82 |
| 19 |  Fahadh FaasilActorMollywood | 6 | $113M | Vikram | 82 |
| 20 |  S. J. SuryahActor | 8 | $118M | Mersal | 81 |
| 21 |  Arjun DasActor | 4 | $78M | Master | 81 |
| 22 |  Amy JacksonActor | 3 | $169M | 2.0 | 80 |
| 23 |  SivaDirector | 7 | $134M | Annaatthe | 79 |
| 24 |  Nithya MenenActor | 7 | $90M | Kanchana 2 | 79 |
| 25 |  AtleeDirector | 3 | $102M | Bigil | 78 |
| 26 |  Ravi MohanActor | 5 | $101M | Ponniyin Selvan: Part I | 78 |
| 27 |  Samantha Ruth PrabhuActorTollywood | 5 | $103M | Mersal | 77 |
| 28 |  Pooja HegdeActorTollywood | 3 | $89M | Jana Nayagan | 77 |
| 29 |  Mamitha BaijuActorMollywood | 3 | $76M | Jana Nayagan | 77 |
| 30 |  Venkat PrabhuDirector | 4 | $100M | The Greatest of All Time | 76 |
| 31 |  Mani RatnamDirector | 4 | $87M | Ponniyin Selvan: Part I | 76 |
| 32 |  H. VinothDirector | 3 | $83M | Jana Nayagan | 76 |
| 33 |  Rahul BoseActor | 2 | $77M | Amaran | 76 |
| 34 |  Pradeep RanganathanActor | 6 | $71M | Dragon | 76 |
| 35 |  Karthik SubbarajDirector | 4 | $61M | Petta | 76 |
| 36 |  Keerthy SureshActorTollywood | 6 | $107M | Sarkar | 75 |
| 37 |  SooriActor | 6 | $81M | Annaatthe | 75 |
| 38 |  NarainActor | 2 | $74M | Vikram | 75 |
| 39 |  RJ BalajiActor | 2 | $72M | Karuppu | 75 |
| 40 |  Pa. RanjithDirector | 4 | $88M | Kabali | 73 |
| 41 |  Yogi BabuActor | 10 | $110M | Jailer | 72 |
| 42 |  Kajal AggarwalActorTollywood | 6 | $102M | Mersal | 70 |
| 43 |  Priyanka Arul MohanActor | 4 | $56M | Etharkkum Thunindhavan | 70 |
| 44 |  SilambarasanActor | 5 | $48M | Maanaadu | 70 |
| 45 |  Raghava LawrenceActor | 5 | $80M | Kanchana 3 | 69 |
| 46 |  Sai PallaviActorTollywood | 2 | $40M | Amaran | 69 |
| 47 |  SathyarajActorTollywood | 8 | $62M | Mandaadi | 68 |
| 48 | PandirajDirector | 4 | $48M | Etharkkum Thunindhavan | 67 |
| 49 |  SanthanamActor | 6 | $113M | Enthiran | 65 |
| 50 |  Bobby DeolActorBollywood | 2 | $50M | Jana Nayagan | 65 |
How star power is scored
- Gross led
- Reported gross of the films the person was top-billed in (first 4 cast credits, or director), counted once per film.
- Consistency
- How those films did as a run, so one giant hit does not paper over a string of flops.
- Body of work
- How many films they have led; quantity helps but does not dominate.
- Momentum
- Gross led, discounted by age.
- Audience rating
- How audiences rated the films they led.
Every signal is a percentile among people who have led at least two Kollywood films. Figures are as reported on TMDB and Wikipedia, and are indicative rather than audited.