The Dropouts: These stars failed to make the cut this year

Salim-Sulaiman
(2015 Rank: 86)
The duo debuted on our list in 2015, but does not feature this year. They did, however, release in 2016 a documentary titled Shukranallah that captures their musical journey over the last 25 years. They also composed ‘Ek India Happy Wala’, the official theme song for the IPL, and stayed busy with concerts. There’s a lot more to look forward to in 2017: Salim-Sulaiman are composing the background score for Kaabil among other projects.  

Rajkumar Hirani
(2015 Rank: 67)
The phenomenal success of PK (2014), which raked in over Rs 300 at the box office, propelled filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani to No 67 on the 2015 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List. This year, however, with no film releases, he finds himself out of the list. His next project is the biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt. 


Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
(2015 Rank: 34)
Rai Bachchan had two releases within our time frame: Jazbaa (2015) and Sarbjit (2016), both of which had average runs at the box office. Her latest release, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, earned over Rs 100 crore but does not fall within our time frame.

Yo Yo Honey Singh
(2015 Rank: 29)
The singer made his acting debut in 2016 with Zorawar, one of the top-grossing Punjabi films of the year. But he sang very little in 2016, after making a comeback from a long break to recover from what he said was bipolar disorder.

SS Rajamouli
(2015 Rank: 72)
There was a lull for SS Rajamouli after his monster hit, Baahubali: The Beginning. The filmmaker did not direct any films during the year under review and is now busy with the sequel to his 2015 blockbuster, titled Baahubali: The Conclusion, which is expected to release in April next year. His fame quotient remains high as he was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2016.



Ishant Sharma
(2015 Rank: 48)
Ishant Sharma finds himself out of the list despite being bought for Rs 3.8 crore by Rising Pune Supergiants at the 2016 IPL auction. The cricketer suffered injuries and played just 7 Tests and 4 ODIs within our time frame. In late 2016, he married basketball player Pratima Singh.

OTHER Dropouts
N Santhanam  (52)
Kabir Khan  (70)
Ravi Teja  (74)
Prabhas  (77)
Arya (80)
Farah Khan  (81)
Ajay-Atul (82)
Preity Zinta (84)
Puri Jagannadh (89)
Sunil Chhetri  (92)
Rohan Bopanna (93)
Kirron Kher (95)
Rohit Shetty (96)
Amish Tripathi (97)
Mithun Chakraborty (98)

Images: Rajkumar, Aishwarya: Sachin Gokhale; Rajamouli: P Anil Kumar, Ishant: Sachin Kadvekar / Fotocorp