We have a fascination for lists. How else would you explain the tendency in almost every publication worth its salt, including yours truly, to cram everything that counts under some or the other list? People’s Most Beautiful, Forbes Top Billionaires, Time’s 100 Most Influential People... and then a Power List of the Hottest in Bollywood.

As it turns out, showbiz personalities are a constant presence in lists across the world, whether it is Angelina Jolie for adopting countless orphans from around the world, George Clooney for his interest in issues of Darfur or closer home, Shah Rukh Khan for being the Maha Style icon.

So what does Tom Cruise do to land ahead of others in a list of Hollywood’s most powerful? There is, I am told, a method to the list madness. The rules are clear. You have got to make good money, land plum roles or maybe not, occupy mansions and mindspace, win many awards or a place in other lists, and while at it, look like a million bucks.

Closer home, the requirement is not radically different. Those who rule the roost are predictable though the emphasis increasingly is on the capital generated. Do you have the muscle to make a lot of money for yourself as well as for others? And last but not least, what’s your body of work?

So here’s the problem — is anything that almost completely overlooks creativity in favour of commerce, good for setting the standards in a field that is as much art as business? Would Satyajit Ray, if he were around, figure in any of these lists? After all, his well crafted films, though widely feted, certainly would not earn the producer huge profits.

... contd.