Everyone in India thinks they should be a star. This is the queue.

Next Superstar is a public leaderboard for whoever India thinks deserves the top billing. ₹99 puts a name up — your own, or the one you've been arguing about since 2019. After that, anyone can push that name higher for ₹9 a tap. Rank is simply what the crowd has put in. No algorithm, no jury, no shortlist, no audition tape sitting unwatched in somebody's inbox.

Why it exists

The normal route into Indian cinema is a closed room. You send a portfolio into a void, you wait, you know somebody or you don't. Nobody tells you where you stand, because nobody is keeping score.

So we made the scoreboard honest instead of pretending it isn't there. Attention already goes to whoever can buy it — posters, PR, trade ads, "buzz". Here that's just the visible rule, with one difference that matters: it's priced so a crowd can win, not just a wallet. ₹9 is less than a chai. A hundred people who actually want you at the top will beat one person with a big budget, and everybody can see the split.

How it works

1. Somebody puts a name up — ₹99

Yours or theirs. Name, industry, one punch line. If it's you, you upload your own photo and write your own line. If it's somebody else, the card gets a generated initials design and a punch line from a preset list — more on why below.

2. Anyone can push it up — ₹9 a tap

Not just you. Your friends, your family, your WhatsApp group, strangers who liked your punch line. Every ₹9 adds to the profile's total, and the total is the rank. Ten people tapping ₹9 beat one person spending ₹90 — because the ten come back.

3. You get overtaken

Because you will. Somebody else's ten friends are also awake. The board never stops moving, and no rank is permanent — including #1. Every card shows exactly how far it is from the seat above, in rupees and in taps, so catching up is always a number you can actually see.

4. People vote anyway

Deserved or Nope. The votes change nothing about your rank. They exist purely so the internet can have an opinion, which it will have regardless.

Anyone can be listed. Here's the deal that makes that OK.

You can put up your favourite actor, your favourite director, your friend, or yourself. We're not going to pretend a board about Indian cinema works if the actual stars aren't on it. But listing a real person and listing yourself are not the same act, so they don't get the same freedom:

Listing yourself — your photo, your words. It's your face and your reputation to spend.
Listing someone else — a generated initials card, and a punch line chosen from a preset list. No photo uploads, no free text. You can put someone at #1; you can't put words in their mouth or a stolen photo on their card.

And anyone can get off the board.

Every card has a report link. If you're listed and you don't want to be, say so and it comes down — no proof, no argument, no waiting for a lawyer. That's the deal that makes an open board fair: anyone can put you up, and you always get the last word. Full rules →

What this is not

Not gambling. There is no prize, no payout, no pool and no uncertain outcome you can stake on. You buy visibility on a page, like buying an ad slot. Nobody wins money here — including us, most days.
Not a talent judgement. The board measures spend, not ability. A high rank means somebody paid. That's it. We say this on every page for a reason.
Not a casting agency. We don't represent anyone, promise anyone anything, or take a cut of work you get. Scouts browsing the board is a happy accident, not a service we sell you.
Not an endorsement. A listing means somebody paid to put that name up. It does not mean the person named knows about it, agreed to it, or is associated with this site in any way.
Not a place to humiliate someone. Punch lines for other people come from a preset list precisely so that this doesn't become that. Abusive listings get removed, and so does anything the named person asks us to remove.

Who made it

A designer in Chennai who wanted to know what would happen if you took the most honest part of the entertainment industry — the money — and made it the only part anyone could see. It cost about a weekend to build and it will probably cost more in hosting than it earns. That is the correct amount of seriousness for this idea.

Do I get anything for being #1?

You get the top of a public page, a screenshot people share, and proof that a certain number of humans spent real money to put you there. No cash, no trophy, no contract.

Can I put my friend on the board?

Yes — ₹99. Pick "Someone else" in the form. Their card gets a generated initials design and a preset punch line, and they can have it pulled any time they like.

Can I boost somebody who isn't me?

That's the entire point. Anyone can boost anyone, as many times as they like. Most people on this board got where they are on other people's ₹9.

Somebody put me on the board. Now what?

Hit the report link on the card and pick "That's me, and I didn't agree to this". It comes down within 24 hours. You don't have to prove anything or explain yourself.

Why can't I upload a photo of the person I'm listing?

Because it almost certainly isn't your photo to upload — most celebrity images belong to a photographer or a studio — and because a face plus a stranger's caption is how a fun board turns into a harassment tool. Initials cards sidestep both.

What if somebody overtakes me five minutes later?

Then you were #1 for five minutes, which is longer than most people manage — and it costs ₹9 to start climbing back. Payments are non-refundable, which is stated before you pay and is the only way a board like this can work.

Does a high rank get me cast in something?

Almost certainly not. It gets you looked at. What happens after that is entirely on you and your showreel.

Why are there 29 industries?

Because India has at least that many and most leaderboards pretend it has one. Topping Khasi Cinema is cheaper than topping Bollywood, and that's deliberate.

The board is open. Same rules for everybody. Go look at who's winning →