We know that millennial generation of actors are not really popular among audience except the younger generation. Like people still confuse between and Ranbir and Ranveer. Most don't know about Alia.
Personal experience, my mom while watching Stree confused Rajkummar Rao with Varun Dhawan. My brother doesn't care about any actors in Bollywood and might not even be able to name them all.
But I think even the popularity of Superstars is very much overrated. I've met people from villages and small towns who have no idea about Salman Khan or Akshay Kumar or any Superstar. Yes, I've met people who don't know about Salman Khan and it was quite shocking for me.
These people whom I have met, watch Bollywood movies but still don't know who is. But then we see fans and media hyping these Superstars to the sky as if 90% of India know who they are.
It's not just current actors though. People in village also don't have an idea about Amitabh Bachchan or Rajesh Khanna. So it was always like this I suppose.
The only thing which makes actors celebs is their popularity, and when you really look into it, even that is PR generated for the most part.
24