Virat Kohli retains crown as India’s most valuable celebrity brand at $231 million: Kroll

The numbers are in, and India’s star power is only getting brighter. According to Kroll’s Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2024, the combined brand value of India’s top 25 celebrities has hit the $2 billion

mark, up 8.6% from last year.

Leading the pack yet again is cricketer Virat Kohli, whose brand is now valued at a staggering $231.1 million, cementing his dominance as the country’s most bankable face.

Hot on his heels is Ranveer Singh at No. 2 with a brand value of $170.7 million, though slightly down from last year.

Bollywood’s King Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, retained his No. 3 spot but posted an impressive 21% jump in brand value to $145.7 million.

Alia Bhatt has emerged as the top female celebrity, climbing to No. 4 with a valuation of $116.4 million, while cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar made a dramatic comeback into the top five at $112.2 million, powered by a fresh slate of endorsements.

The list also saw a shake-up further down the order.

Kriti Sanon zoomed up to rank 19, Tamannaah Bhatia rose to 21, and Jasprit Bumrah bowled his way into the 22nd spot. Ananya Panday rounded out the top 25, making her debut with a brand value of $35.2 million.

South rises, OTT thrives

Kroll’s report also reflects tectonic shifts in India’s entertainment industry. South Indian cinema now commands 47.7% of the box office, overtaking Hindi films, which have slipped to 39.5%.

At the same time, OTT platforms have become the financial backbone of major releases, contributing more than half their revenues, even as mega-budget spectacles still pack theatres.

Interestingly, nostalgia has become a new revenue stream: re-releases of Bollywood classics like Jab We Met (50% of lifetime collections from re-release) and Tumbbad (70%) outperformed their original runs.

Down south, Tamil blockbuster Ghilli drew nearly the same hysteria as its first outing, clocking 35% of lifetime collections from its re-release.

“The future of Indian cinema lies in synergy,” said Umakanta Panigrahi, Managing Director, Valuation Advisory Services at Kroll. “OTT and theatres now complement each other. Re-releases have also brought audiences back to cinemas, showing that nothing can replace the thrill of the big screen.”

Here's the full list of the top 25 celebrity brands for 2024 as per Kroll:

Celebrity	2024 Brand rank	Brand value ($ million)	2023 Brand rank[1]
Virat Kohli	1	231.1	1
Ranveer Singh	2	170.7	2
Shah Rukh Khan	3	145.7	3
Alia Bhatt	4	116.4	5
Sachin Tendulkar	5	112.2	8
Akshay Kumar	6	108.0	4
Deepika Padukone	7	102.9	6
Mahendra Singh Dhoni	7	102.9	7
Hrithik Roshan	9	92.2	11
Amitabh Bachchan	10	83.7	9
Kareena Kapoor	11	79.5	15 1
Ranbir Kapoor	12	70.3	13
Kiara Advani	13	68.0	12
Kartik Aaryan	14	61.5	17
Rashmika Mandanna	15	58.9	20
Salman Khan	16	57.0	10
Anushka Sharma	17	48.4	14
Rohit Sharma	17	48.4	18
Kriti Sanon	19	44.8	27
Hardik Pandya	20	43.1	19
Tamannaah Bhatia	21	40.4	28
Jasprit Bumrah	22	38.1	41
Ayushmann Khurrana	23	36.1	16
Allu Arjun	24 2	35.5	22
Ananya Panday	25	35.2	46
		$2 bn

[1] Previous rank as determined in the nineth edition of this report, titled Brands, Business, Bollywood, published in June 2024.