By the numbers
- Films: 132 since 1974; 22 in the last ten years (cameos and guest appearances not counted)
- Recent films with figures: 5 of 14 since 2018
- Hits: 0 (0 blockbusters), average: 4, flops: 1 – a hit rate of 0%
- Average return: 1.44x budget; best: Bhairathi Ranagal 1.67x; weakest: Peddi 1.10x
- Biggest hit: Peddi (2026), ₹330 cr
- Born: 1961-07-12
- Awards on Wikidata: 1
| Year | Film | Budget | Box office | Return | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Peddi | ₹300 cr | ₹330 cr | 1.10x | Flop |
| 2025 | 45 | – | ₹21 cr | – | No figures |
| 2024 | Bhairathi Ranagal | ₹18 cr | ₹30 cr | 1.67x | Average |
| 2024 | Karataka Damanaka | – | ₹2.9 cr | – | No figures |
| 2024 | Captain Miller | ₹50 cr | ₹73 cr | 1.46x | Average |
| 2023 | Ghost | ₹15 cr | ₹24 cr | 1.62x | Average |
| 2022 | Vedha | – | ₹20 cr | – | No figures |
| 2022 | Bairagee | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2021 | Bhajarangi 2 | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2020 | Drona | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2019 | Ayushman Bhava | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2019 | Rustum | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2019 | Kavacha | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2018 | The Villain | ₹40 cr | ₹54 cr | 1.35x | Average |
What the numbers say
As of 26 September 2026, Shiva Rajkumar’s page lists 132 films from 1974 to 2026, with 22 of them in the last decade. The table above is the immediate problem: only five of the recent films carry both budget and gross figures. Across those five, the record is flat: no hits, no blockbusters, four Average verdicts and one Flop — a 0% hit rate on the figures available.
Those five films grossed ₹555 crore in total. The average multiple is 1.44x, which leaves little room after a film’s cost is recovered. That number is not a disaster by itself, but it is not a star premium either.
Several other recent entries are incomplete: some carry only a gross, such as Vedha and Karataka Damanaka, and many carry none. Without a budget, a multiple cannot be calculated, so they are excluded from the averages. That is not a criticism of the films; it is a limit of the dataset.
The hits and the misses
There is no hit in the data set. The largest grosser in the table above is Peddi at ₹330 crore, but it cost ₹300 crore and returned 1.1x; its verdict is Flop. It is both the biggest rupee figure and the weakest return on the scorecard.
The best multiple is Bhairathi Ranagal: ₹30 crore gross on an ₹18 crore budget, a 1.67x multiple and an Average verdict. Behind it, Ghost returned 1.62x, Captain Miller 1.46x, and The Villain 1.35x. These are workable numbers at controlled budgets, but none crossed into hit territory.
The trend
The recent five with full figures average 1.44x. The films before them carry no figures in Wikipedia, so a previous-five comparison cannot be made from the available data; any earlier trend would be guesswork.
What we can see is a budget risk problem. Films in the ₹15–50 crore budget band in the table above returned between 1.35x and 1.67x, while the single ₹300 crore film returned 1.1x. The record is steadier at mid-level budgets, not at scale.
What it means for the actor’s next film and for the industry
For the actor’s next film, the scorecard argues for budget discipline. A 1.44x average across the five films with data does not support a ₹300 crore production outlay. The safer greenlight is the ₹15–50 crore band that produced multiples from 1.35x to 1.67x in the table above.
For the Kannada industry, Peddi is the cautionary number: a ₹330 crore gross is not a success when it sits on a ₹300 crore budget. If the next project is priced at that scale, it needs a different multiple conversation before the first day of shooting.
Figures: Shiva Rajkumar filmography on Wikipedia and each film’s page, read on 26 September 2026.
