Ram Charan, Jr NTR jointly top UK’s 2022 South Asian celebrity list; Fawad Khan clinches 2nd spot, Alia Bhatt 4th

Actors Ram Charan and Jr NTR, last seen together in the hit film RRR, have jointly topped an annual UK list of the Top 50 Asian Celebrities in the World. Pakistani actor Fawad Khan came in second while British-Indian actor Simone Ashley clinched the third spot. Actor Alia Bhatt secured the fourth spot and became the first female actor on the list. Pakistani-Canadian actor Iman Vellani got the fifth spot. (Also Read | Golden Globes 2023 nominations: RRR gets Best Song, Best Foreign Film nods)

Ram and Jr NTR, ranked at the top spot for breaking international records and blazing a trail with two Golden Globe nominations for RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli, as per news agency PTI. Fawad got the next spot for his ‘transformative film The Legend of Maula Jatt, which set a new bar for the Pakistani film industry. He is also recognised for a winning appearance in the Disney+ Hostar superhero series Ms Marvel.

As per the agency, the 2022 list will be published in the UK weekly Eastern Eye on Friday. “Jr NTR and Ram Charan breathed fire into cinema halls with RRR and ignited the kind of interest in commercial Indian films from a cross-cultural audience globally, including international media, not seen before,” PTI quoted Asjad Nazir, Eastern Eye’s Entertainment Editor who compiled the list.

“It led to RRR campaigning in all the major categories for the 2023 Oscars, winning honours like the Spotlight Award from the Hollywood Critics Association and getting two Golden Globe nominations. The heroes also drew attention to regional language cinema in India, which resulted in multiple movie successes away from the commercial Bollywood space,” added Asjad.

Among the other high-ranking celebrities are Yash (sixth) with the big success of KGF: Chapter 2 which put Kannada cinema on the global map. Singer Shreya Ghoshal (seventh) is the highest-ranked singer for hit songs in multiple languages and worldwide arena shows. At number eight, the highest-placed television star is Tejasswi Prakash for winning the 15th edition of India’s biggest reality TV show Bigg Boss and her hit TV drama series Naagin 6.

Pop star of Indian heritage Charli XCX and actor Allu Arjun completed the top 10 list. The oldest star in the 2022 list is actor Amitabh Bachchan (30th) and the youngest is Bigg Boss 16 contestant Sumbul Touqeer Khan (44th).