Superstar Salman Khan has beaten other popular Hindi stars like Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra (PC), Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) and Alia Bhatt to become the top Bollywood newsmaker of the year 2019, according to Wizikey's survey.
It has been a fruitful year for Bollywood with some back to back blockbusters and impressive movies like Gully Boy, Badla and Mission Mangal. Reports about Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor's affair, celebs at Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta's wedding and Priyanka Chopra Jonas' move to Hollywood created a lot of buzz in this year.
The grand old industry continued its trend and some stars overshadowed the others. Wizikey, a PR and communication platform, has collated interesting trends across the Bollywood using its AI and ML-based Technology and created a report on the Top Newsmakers of 2019.
Salman Khan is leading the race with 25 percent coverage, while Akshay Kumar landed in the second rank with 24 percent. Priyanka Chopra (PC), Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) have graced third, fourth and fifth ranks with 17, 16 and 15 percent of coverage, respectively, as per Wizikey's survey.
Ansul Sushil, Founder and CEO of Wizikey, said, "Always interesting to see which stars shone the brightest among the constellation called Bollywood. These top newsmakers of Bollywood made much more news around their life events than just the movies they're in. The AI and ML capabilities of Wizikey is helping us see the insights which help us understand the media landscape better."
Salman Khan was successful in moving away from the hit and run fiasco to generate visibility for himself through Bharat and Dabangg 3. Like every year, Bigg Boss 13 also added to his visibility throughout the season. There were some rumours surrounding the second edition of Kick which were squashed by Sajid Nadiadwala, to the dismay of many of his fans.
Akshay Kumar's year in the media's spotlight was dominated by news surrounding his movie Mission Mangal, which told the story of how India reached the red planet. The actor was also in the news for his movies like Laxmi Bomb, Housefull 4 and Good Newzz. He closed the year on an unrelated note though when his application for Indian citizenship was widely covered in the media.
Priyanka Chopra had a healthy amount of visibility in the media in 2019. Although it was not all of positive with a petition to remove her as the UN Goodwill Ambassador, the release of her film The Sky is Pink made up for it in the latter part of the year. Her recent induction into the Jonas family also meant she was mentioned alongside the brothers most of which came during Joe Jonas' wedding with Sophie Turner.
Alia Bhatt had a stellar year, both on the screen and in the media's limelight. She was in the news from start to finish this year. She started the year by teasing a possible engagement with Ranbir in 2020 and closed it with awards for Gully Boy. Alia has been successful in transforming her image from a misinformed, dumb teen to a rising star of incredible potential.
It is no surprise that Shah Rukh Khan was one of the biggest newsmakers of the year. Though he had no major releases, he was constantly in the news throughout the year. This is a testament to how big a brand SRK is and how we can't talk Bollywood without mentioning him. His appearance on David Letterman's show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction and his birthday were the talk of the town.
