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The most powerful Indian film star is...

Forbes.com recently held a survey to determine the five most powerful Indian film stars. And , superstar Amitabh Bachchan ``was the hands down winner.`` Following 58-year-old Bachchan were Hrithik Roshan,Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit.

This has been a good year for Amitabh Bachchan. He is the host of the phenomenally successful television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). He topped the BBC`s Internet poll on the `Star of the Millennium`. He also became the first Indian actor to have his likeness sculpted for Madame Tussaud`s Wax Museum in London.

Hrithik Roshan, 27, is the latest phenomenon on the Hindi film scene despite having done only six films. His debut film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai established that a new superstar had arrived. Hrithik ranks second only to Bachchan in earnings per film. Aamir Khan, 35, part of the Khan troika (Salman and Shahrukh) is considered the most `serious` actor of the three. He has recently turned to production and his debut production, `Lagaan` is due for release shortly.

Aishwarya Rai, 27, is arguably, the top actress in the country today. Winner of the 1994 Miss World contest, Ms. Rai commands the highest salary among Indian actresses. Madhuri Dixit,33, was declared by Forbes to be "one of India`s most beloved actresses". Madhuri debuted in 1986 and has won the Filmfare Best Actress award three times.

The list was compiled according to the Forbes "proprietary formula - weighing salary, number of press clips returned on Lexis-Nexis, and by gauging popularity from searches on the Dow Jones interactive and Google.com.``

The article stated, "While India`s biggest celebrity actors are treated like royalty by an adoring public, they are also the subject of the kind of media gossip that would make a National Enquirer reporter blush.``