Shah Rukh Khan
With Karan Johar's feel good Kal Ho Na Ho becoming the top grosser of the year, Shah Rukh has once again proved that he is the "King" of the box-office! Enacting the role of an angelic Samaritan who walks into people's lives healing their relationships and making them feel on top of the world, though his life oscillates between life and death, has the audience in tears and laughter. Shah Rukh Khan's zest, despite being down with a back surgery, could easily give his contemporaries a run for their money. Khan also completed Chalte-Chalte in record time. Here he was once again bogged down with severe back pain. But massive finances being at stake Khan preferred to stake his life and saw to it that both films Chalte-Chalte and Kal Ho Na Ho were completed as per schedule. King in real life too, no doubt!

Hrithik Roshan
Speculations were rife whether Hrithik would successfully carry off the role of mentally deranged individual in papa Roshan's Koi Mil Gaya a film that was a fusion of Steven Spielberg's Extra Terrestial (ET) and Robert Zemeckis' Forrest Gump. And doubts were put to rest because Roshan junior wooed not only children but also adults. He was the perfect choice for Rohit who encounters an alien in the fogged woods of Dehra Dun. Koi Mil Gaya salvaged Hrithik Roshan from being written off. Hrithik Roshan currently is busy completing Farhan Akhtar's Lakshya a war-based film.

Ajay Devgan
He was the only hero who had the maximum number of releases in the year and surprise-surprise most of the films did pretty good business at the box-office including the forgettable Parwana. Whether it was playing a worried husband tensed about his spirit- harassed wife (Bhoot) or the honest cop (Gangaajal) or captain fighting the Kargil war, Ajay Devgan won hands down. Of course, there were also the you-could-afford-to-miss Qayamat, Chori-Chori and Parwana (Qayamat reportedly did good business in several centers in India). The year certainly belonged to Ajay Devgan. Wait there's more. Next year we shall see him Rajkumar Santoshi's cop-terrorist flick Khakee and Ritupurano Ghosh's different love story Raincoat. There's also Aparna Sen's Gulel that promises to make the audience laugh. So should we say the year that follows belongs to Ajay too?

Saif Ali Khan
He was the surprise packet of the year. Saif's winsome performance in Karan Johar's Kal Ho Na Ho was unforgettable. The role of the "normal" gujju lad went down well with the masses. What further consolidated his position as an actor was his performance as Captain Anuj Sawhney in JP Dutta's LoC. The soldier who leaves his loved one behind and sacrifices his life for the country has audience in tears. Seems like with every new film Saif is improving as an actor. Come January and we can watch out for him Ek Hasina Thi. In fact, the director of the film has also signed Saif to play the title role of Charles Shobraj. Saif today definitely stands to be a "Saif" bet!