By the numbers
- Films: 66 since 1992; 8 in the last ten years (cameos and guest appearances not counted)
- Recent films with figures: 10 of 10 since 2014
- Hits: 7 (5 blockbusters), average: 2, flops: 1 – a hit rate of 70%
- Average return: 3.21x budget; best: Dear Zindagi 6.31x; weakest: Zero 0.96x
- Biggest hit: Jawan (2023), ₹1,150 cr
- Trend: last five films 3.25x on average, the five before 3.17x (up)
- Born: 1965-11-02
- Awards on Wikidata: 17
| Year | Film | Budget | Box office | Return | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dunki | ₹85 cr | ₹471 cr | 5.54x | Blockbuster |
| 2023 | Jawan | ₹300 cr | ₹1,150 cr | 3.83x | Blockbuster |
| 2023 | Pathaan | ₹250 cr | ₹1,050 cr | 4.20x | Blockbuster |
| 2018 | Zero | ₹200 cr | ₹191 cr | 0.96x | Flop |
| 2017 | Jab Harry Met Sejal | ₹90 cr | ₹153 cr | 1.70x | Average |
| 2017 | Raees | ₹87 cr | ₹281 cr | 3.23x | Blockbuster |
| 2016 | Dear Zindagi | ₹22 cr | ₹139 cr | 6.31x | Blockbuster |
| 2016 | Fan | ₹105 cr | ₹182 cr | 1.74x | Average |
| 2015 | Dilwale | ₹165 cr | ₹377 cr | 2.28x | Hit |
| 2014 | Happy New Year | ₹150 cr | ₹342 cr | 2.28x | Hit |
What the numbers say
Shah Rukh Khan’s career runs to 66 films since a 1992 debut, with 17 awards. This scorecard is narrower: the 10 entries with financial data in the table above. Within that set he has 7 hits, 5 blockbusters, 2 average verdicts and 1 flop, for a hit rate of 70 percent. The average multiple is 3.21 and the total gross is 4336.9 crore. As of 26 September 2026, 32 appearances are left out of this reading.
The record is high-floor but not uniform. The biggest hit by gross is Jawan (2023): 1150 crore against a 300 crore budget, a 3.83 multiple and a blockbuster verdict. The best multiple belongs to Dear Zindagi (2016), at 6.31 times a 22 crore budget.
The hits and the misses
The biggest hit is Jawan, with a 3.83 multiple on a 300 crore budget. The weakest return is Zero (2018): 191.43 crore against a 200 crore budget, a 0.96 multiple and the only flop in the set. That gap between 1150 crore and 191.43 crore is the operating range planners are buying into.
In the middle, Pathaan returned 4.2 times its 250 crore budget, and Dunki returned 5.54 times its 85 crore budget. Fan and Jab Harry Met Sejal landed at average verdicts with 1.74 and 1.7 multiples respectively. Five of the ten entries are blockbusters, which is the consistency that matters most.
The trend
The recent five entries in the table above average a 3.25 multiple, against 3.17 for the five before them. That is a marginal improvement. The recent five hold the 2017-2018 soft patch of Jab Harry Met Sejal and Zero, followed by the 2023 rebound of Pathaan, Jawan and Dunki.
The shape is a whipsaw more than a steady climb: a 0.96 multiple in 2018, then 4.2, 3.83 and 5.54 in 2023. The upturn is recent, concentrated and dependent on three films with budgets of 250 crore, 300 crore and 85 crore respectively.
What it means for the actor’s next film and for the industry
The table above carries no figures for a next Shah Rukh Khan film, so this is a planning reference, not a forecast. The recent evidence cuts both ways. Budgets between 85 crore and 300 crore produced blockbuster multiples in 2023, but Zero shows that even a star of this scale can fail to clear a 200 crore budget at the box office.
For the industry’s 2026 star-power debate, the scorecard gives a qualified answer. A 70 percent hit rate and a 3.21 average multiple support the argument that a top star can anchor returns. But the misses are in the multiples, not in the profile of the projects. Planners should treat Shah Rukh Khan as high demand, not unconditional demand.
Figures: Shah Rukh Khan filmography on Wikipedia and each film’s page, read on 26 September 2026.
