India, May 26 -- For over three decades, the three Khans have been the gold standard at the Bollywood box office. Collectively, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan have delivered over 80 hits. Almost every year, from 1994 onwards, a film headlined by them has been the highest-grossing Hindi film. But there was a time-almost a decade-long phase-when their hegemony was broken, and a fourth actor not only outgrossed them at the box office, but also gave more hits.

Akshay Kumar had a prolific run at the box office from 2007-19, which catapulted him to the top of the box office gross in Indian cinema history. The actor has appeared in close to 130 films in his career, which have collectively grossed a staggering Rs.9000 crore at the b...