Star system in Indian cinema gradually developed as a result of changing tradition in Indian film industry. In a country, where 83% of the population is Hindu, and even the non-Hindus have a cultural party fashioned by the Hindu heritage, religious tradition is based in great part of the adoration of the idols and the veneration of the guru is important in all spheres of life. As far as films were concerned the public transferred its aspirations and nostalgia to the stars who, in their eyes, were the worthy objects of admiration and imitation. What is true for the whole world as far as popular idols are concerned, takes on an infinitely deeper dimension due to the heritage of "hero-worship" which is very much alive even today.

The phenomenon is perhaps not so much because of the desire of these stars to attain divine status but because of a transposition to the screen of the secular tradition of the hero cult and the overriding importance of the cinema in the lives of the Indians. Because of all these elements the force of this system of stratification of the actors and actresses can be attributed. In India the star system existed from the Silent Era and became even stronger when the Studios were at their height. At Bombay Talkies, for instance, some remarkable actors and actresses grew into stars but it was in the post-Studio phase that stars assumed an enormous importance.

Fundamentally the main objective of the main conception of the hero is to make its audience dream. The cinema industry does not stop itself from going as far as possible to prop up the star system. With changing times the fan clubs emerged and the idolization of the stars reached incredible heights.

However the on the flip side of this coin are those great producers and directors of the period from the 1930s to the 1960s that of the Golden Era of Hindi cinema as well as directors such as Satyajit Ray or those of the New Cinema from the 1970s onwards, have sometimes managed to use lesser known, even unknown actors in their films. These actors were extremely talented and committed professionally. Their films, thus, have to some extent broken the system of `superstar syndrome` of commercial cinema.

Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar were, probably the earliest stars of Indian cinema.

As time flew by the star system became more integrated within the film industry. In the 1970s Rajesh Khanna attained the position of the `megastar.` The audience literally worshipped him. As his era came to an end evolved the concept of the `superstar` with the angry young man at the forefront, Amitabh Bachchan. Down south the tradition probably started with NT Rama Rao and was ascended by Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan. Today in the South Indian films Rajnikanth is still the undisputed king. The recent years in Bollywood witnessed the rise of a new face to the throne of the superstar, more popularly addressed as the `Badshah`, Shahrukh Khan.