The most successful actor in Indian history has done 400 hits and 50 blockbusters, which is more than the films of Shahrukh, Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth combined.

Among the great superstars of the Indian film world, names like Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Dilip Kumar, Chiranjeevi and Shah Rukh Khan are often taken as big stars. But how to decide which of them is the biggest star?

If success rate is taken as a criterion, Dilip Kumar seems to be at the forefront. If box office earnings are taken into account, Shah Rukh Khan leads the way and if ticket sales and viewership are the benchmarks, Amitabh Bachchan stands far ahead of the rest.

But the title of the most successful Indian actor went to Prem Nazir, the hero of Malayalam films, who played the lead role in more than 720 films between 1952 and 1986.

Prem Nazir, known by his fans and admirers as Nitya Harita Nayakan (The Ever-Young Hero), ruled Malayalam cinema for over three decades. He laid the foundations of the ideal hero of Malayalam films whose footsteps are followed by many actors even today.

In his career spanning from the early 50s to the late 80s, he acted in nearly 1,000 films, including more than 700 as the lead hero. His extraordinary speed and ability to work continuously allowed him to deliver one hit after another for decades.

According to the film industry, Prem Nazir had more than 400 hit films in his career, in which at least 50 films were declared blockbusters. The importance of this figure can be estimated from the fact that Amitabh Bachchan, one of the biggest superstars of Hindi cinema, is far behind in this regard. He has 60 hits, including 11 blockbusters.

Rajinikanth is also almost at the same level, none of the modern day Bollywood stars come close to Prem Nazir. Akshay, Shah Rukh and Salman Khan have a total of 35 to 38 hits. Salman has 15 blockbusters to his name, the most for a Hindi film hero.

Prem Nazir, whose real name was Abdul Qadir, was born in 1929, and began his artistic journey in the theater, where in 1951 he played the role of Shylock in Shakespeare’s famous play The Merchant of Venice. The very next year he turned to films and initially worked under his real name. By the late 1950s, he had become a well-known star. The 1970s were the busiest period of his career. He used to shoot 3 to 4 films simultaneously and completed each film within a few weeks.

In 1979, he set the world record for acting in the most films in a single year. By the 80s, Prem Nazir’s stardom began to wane. It had been 50 years. He turned to supporting roles.

In 1988, he expressed his desire to direct a film starring Mohanlal and Mammootty, the then two new big stars of Malayalam cinema. But death did not give him respite and on January 16, 1989, he died at the age of 59 after a long illness.