Bobby Deol was still going well. It was the debut of Hrithik Roshan that changed everything.
Shah Rukh Khan was anyways reigning & even he was shaken a bit. He ruled the romantic genre strongly.
Aamir Khan went on a break but Lagaan had given him enough traction.
Salman Khan still had enough goodwill & the two bad years he had was compensated for in 2003 with Tere Naam. That was the film which got Salman ready for the decade with Hrithik.
Akshay Kumar though shaky, found a firm hold in comedy genre to thrive on.
Ajay Devgn had to try harder. Went fully negative in Khakee & went to a fatherly role in Taarzan the Wonder Car. Eventually by the second half of the decade, he survived.
These were the only five that made it through.
Rest all fell apart without being able to keep up with the change.
Sunny Deol stuck to action genre, couldn't sustain.
Bobby Deol followed Sunny & failed. His attempt at comedy was a dud. And by 2004, he couldn't compete at all.
Akshaye Khanna could only find success in two comedy films but eventually went down.
Suniel Shetty went down.
Govinda is no exception. Took a hard hit on his minimum guarantee tag as his proper comedy films where he put all his hopes on flopped.
This led to the entry of new phases - Abhishek Bachchan, Tusshar Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Shahid Kapoor. Point is basically audience were given more options.
The trio who have to be mentioned separately are,
Big B. His second innings went to another level.
Sanjay Dutt actually made it here by daring to play Hrithik's father in Mission Kashmir (guardian / father) & Munna Bhai was it.
Saif Ali Khan got another chance with Dil Chahta Hai but it was Kal Ho Naa Ho which brought him the right kinda offers from YRF.
You could clearly see how everything changed once Hrithik entered.