Diljit Dosanjh & Charli XCX top 2024 list of world’s leading Asian celebrities
Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh has been named the top Asian celebrity in the world for 2024, according to the annual Top 50 Asian Celebrities in the World list published by the UK based Eastern Eye newspaper.
Dosanjh surpassed last year’s winner Shah Rukh Khan and faced competition from renowned figures across global cinema, television, music, arts, literature, and social media.
The recognition comes after a remarkable year for Dosanjh, which included a record-breaking global live tour—the largest ever by an Indian artist—acclaimed acting performances, notable collaborations, and other groundbreaking achievements. His contributions have solidified his position as a prominent figure on the international stage.
Eastern Eye entertainment editor, Asjad Nazir, who puts together the list explained why the 40-year-old phenomenon made such a big impact in 2024. “The singing superstar delivered the most successful world tour undertaken by any South Asian celebrity in history with his blockbuster ‘Dil-Luminati’ show. His history-making performance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ broke new ground for Indian music. He delivered hit songs, which included solo singles, top tracks for films and international collaborations. In between all the musical magic, the multi-talented star showed off his impressive acting ability in films and proudly promoted his Punjabi culture. Everybody was talking about him in what turned out to be a dream year.”
The top 50 list celebrating Asian stars who shone the brightest in 2024, is based on brilliant work, positive impact, breaking boundaries, shattering glass ceilings, fan attention, and being inspiring in some way. There was also a big public input with readers and social media users nominating their favourite.
Half-Indian pop superstar Charli XCX came in second, narrowly missing out on the top spot, for an incredible year that included sold out live performances, seven Grammy nominations and her now iconic Brat album, which spawned a huge global movement.
Third placed Allu Arjun smashed box office records with the year’s most successful Indian film ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ and significantly changed the cinema landscape in his country. Fourth placed Dev Patel confirmed himself as a Hollywood power player, by remarkably writing, directing, producing and starring in hit movie ‘Monkey Man’, along with signing more major projects.
Fifth placed Priyanka Chopra Jonas remained the most famous Indian celebrity in the world, as she balanced high profile projects that ranged from movies to starting work on season two of mega-budget series Citadel.
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Sixth place Vijay starred in the year’s most successful Tamil movie and started a political party, with the soul aim of making a positive difference.
Seventh placed Arijit Singh had a stunning year that included overtaking international pop icon Taylor Swift as the most followed artist on Spotify. Australian actress Geraldine Viswanathan, in eighth place, has established herself as arguably the number one actress of South Asian origin in Hollywood and signed major projects like upcoming Marvel superhero movie Thunderbolts.
The highest placed Pakistani is actress Hania Aamir (9), who delivered a strong performance in globally successful drama serial ‘Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum’, raised awareness about mental health and signed more major projects.
British actress Simone Ashley, at number 10, continued making a global impact with projects that ranged from hit serial Bridgerton to landing big movies.
The oldest star in the list is once again 82-year-old Amitabh Bachchan (26). The youngest is 17-year-old actress Nitanshi Goel (42), who played the lead role in India’s official Oscar entry ‘Laapataa Ladies’ and said: “Being the youngest on this prestigious list is truly humbling. 2024 has been a transformative year for me, especially with the love and appreciation my character ‘Phool’ and ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has received. Phool’s story of resilience and self-discovery touched my heart, and it’s amazing to see how it resonated with audiences across the globe. I’m incredibly grateful for the love and hope to continue inspiring young dreamers like myself.”
The highest placed Indian television star is Rupali Ganguly (16). The highest placed comedian is in demand star Romesh Ranganathan (19), and the only author to make the list is British writer Onjali Q Rauf (49). The only artist in the list is Jasleen Kaur (40), who won the prestigious Turner Prize.
The only social media star in the list is Viraj Ghelani (44), who headlined the year’s biggest Gujarati movie ‘Jhamkudi’ and did path-breaking stand-up comedy internationally in the language.
Creative talent from diverse fields and different languages crossing new frontiers with impactful work showed that 2024 was very much defined by breaking boundaries. “The exciting global South Asian talent from four different continents were shattering glass ceiling, breaking records, and constantly creating something new, from taking music, movies and even comedy into new arenas, to triggering movements that inspired others to follow. These rulebreakers are inspiring a new generation to do things differently and show that anything really is possible,” said Asjad Nazir.
Others in the 2024 list include Fahadh Faasil (12), Rajkummar Rao (15), Vijay Sethupathi (17), Shreya Ghoshal (18), Zayn Malik (21), Shazad Latif (24), Karan Aujla (29), Arooj Aftab (33), Kani Kusruti (35), Himesh Patel (38), Sumbul Touqeer (43) and Vir Das (45).
