MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan tops the first Forbes India Celebrity 100 with annual estimated earnings last year of $37.7 million, the magazine said on Friday.

In the list — a ranking of the country's biggest entertainers based on income and popularity — fellow actor Salman Khan came in second with estimated earnings of $30 million.

In third place was India's cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with $25 million.

“Both Salman Khan and Dhoni are ahead of SRK (Shah Rukh Khan) in terms of popularity and fame,” the magazine said.

“But 'King Khan' came out tops courtesy of his earning power, mainly riding on massive income from brand endorsements,” the magazine said, referring to Shah Rukh Khan.

Actor Akshay Kumar came in fourth place while veteran Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan came fifth. The highest-ranked woman on the list was actor Kareena Kapoor in seventh place.

“The list is an attempt to rank the most powerful and the most popular of the players who are at the centre of this sector,” Forbes media and entertainment editor Deepak Ajwani said.

For the wealth estimates, Forbes said it got independent assessments from multiple sources, including talent agencies, film and TV producers, publishers, sports consultants, advertising agencies and celebrity managers.

To track fame, their methods included looking at media and Internet visibility as well as social media followers. Most on the Indian list were aged between 30 to 50.

The Forbes special edition, which ranks celebrities across eight categories including actors, musicians, models and sportspeople, was due to hit newsstands on Saturday.