Everybody Loves @iamsrk

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Ladies and gentlemen, something truly significant happened on the second of January. (No, I’m not referring to your hangover, although doubtless that was epic as well.) On January 2, Shah Rukh Khan joined Twitter. Yes, that’s right. Time for all of you Twitter-haters to finally perk up and pay attention. Shah Rukh Khan, that’s King Khan to you, joins Mallika Sherawat, Priyanka Chopra, Dino Morea and other Bollywood stars who use the social media site to connect directly with fans throughout the world. As a Twitter addict and Bollywood fan, I admit I’m a little excited about this development. When I first heard (through Twitter of course) that SRK had joined Twitter, he had a mere 1200+ followers. Right now he has 24,947 followers, a number that will no doubt double in the next few days, perhaps even hours. On his Twitter acount, SRK claims he was roped into joining Twitter through his friend, Karan Johar, who is also the director of Khan’s forthcoming film, “I am Khan.” No doubt the move is a well-timed publicity stunt to coincide with the film’s release. But it’s still significant given how few Bollywood stars are actually on Twitter. Khan’s first few Tweets (that’s status updates for you Facebookers/Luddites) are the usual mundane statements one would expect from a Twitter noob. He talks about his family, his back and his sleep schedule. Nothing to swoon over. But who cares? IT’S SHAH RUKH KHAN. I’m guessing his fans would be entertained if he spent his days tweeting about his pore treatments. Either way, the fact that in a few days SRK managed to gain a foothold in the Twitter follower race is a testament to the appeal of Twitter. Following your favorite celeb on Twitter gives you an inside look into the inner workings of their minds and allows you, sometimes directly, to have a conversation with them.

It’ll be interesting to see how Khan uses Twitter in the next few months. Will he interact with his fans a la Mallika (whose Twitter use while she was in America garnered her an invite from Twitter’s headquarters)? Can he surpasss Bollywood Twitter Queen, Priyanka Chopra’s 100,000 + followers? Use it to promote a blog like Amitabh? (By the way, how does the Big B have only 4,000 followers? Be warned, SRK, boring only gets you so far.) Get into trouble like Shashi Tharoor? We’ll just have to wait and see. (So far, his only @ response has been to journalist Barkha Dutt.) Perhaps he’ll pull a Miley Cyrus and leave in disgust? Personally, I’d like to see him go beyond the obviously PR benefits and use his platform to spread socially-conscious messages to his fans (perhaps promote charity work, etc). One can only dream. Either way, I’m glad he’s on Twitter. Hopefully he’s a good contributor. On the flip side, thanks to SRK, now my mom wants to learn more about Twitter. As long as she doesn’t follow me, it’s all good.

What about you folks? If you’re on Twitter, are you following SRK? If you haven’t joined Twitter and you’re an SRK fan, does the fact that he’s on it make you change your mind? Lemme know. Also, if there are any other Bollywood folks on Twitter that you recommend we follow, do tell.

(h/t Sugi)

35 thoughts on “Everybody Loves @iamsrk”

  1. Is SRK’s account verified on Twitter?

    Like Shashi Tharoor, Mallika, Priyanka accounts are verified.

    Because anyone can pretend to be SRK.

  4. I don’t know what it is about this guy. I was incensed when he joined the fair and lovely campaign for men (so disappointed). He’s not amazing looking. But there is something so charming about him…or what I see projected by him on tv…I’m not a twitter person, but now, now I’m tempted to follow.

  6. I could not imagine a better marriage of a medium that thrives on triviality, and a messenger that embodies it.

  7. Well, to tell the truth..I got on the twitterwagon just so I can follow Karan Johar LOL. I was there as he tweeted about one celebrity friend after another whom he’s managed to persuade to join twitter. But I thought since Shah Rukh is a reclusive person with too little time in his hand, he’ll never be convinced to join them (all the ones I’m following are his friends: Priyanka, Farhan, Abhishek, Uday Chopra, and of course Karan). So I really went berserk on Sunday when I read Priyanka’s tweet asking us to welcome him on twitter..OMG! Then Karan tweeted twice to confirm that it’s indeed Shah Rukh and not some impostor.

    I’d recommend following Uday and Abhishek. Uday may not be the best actor in Bollywood, but his tweets are amusing and he’s so sweet. Abhishek tweets about anything he feels like..so reading them makes me feel like reading SMSes sent directly to me, some r hysterically funny too.

  8. I was incensed when he joined the fair and lovely campaign for men (so disappointed).

    It’s about time Desi men feel the pressure like Desi women.

    But there is something so charming about him

    True. His personality comes across.

  10. There is only one SRK and that is Shoryuken. Naw but Twitter is just going nuts with everybody on it now days.

  11. i joined twitter but didnt get even a sympathy follow. so i quit. what does srk have that i dont? hain? les singhada.

  12. I blogged about Shah Rukh’s tweets on my Lassi with Lavina blog today – he didn’t seem to have much to say. but he’s SRK so anything he says is gold! For some really amusing tweets, follow Rahul Khanna. In his bio he calls himself ‘Bollywood Struggler’ ‘Had to emergency babysit a friend’s 9-month old yesterday. Much drooling, tantrum throwing & terrified screaming. And that was just me.’ ‘Judging by my latest credit card statement, it would probably be more economical to support a heroin habit than my sushi one.’ And some real facts of life too: ‘ I miss the days when I got more holiday cards in my mailbox than automated ‘out-of-office’ replies in my inbox.’ ‘Looking at my barely legible scrawls, it’s hard to believe I used to have really nice handwriting before the computers came into our lives.’
    So true!

  13. Most big actors don’t really answer their fan mail – they have secretaries that do. Who is to say who is actually posting tweets and blog messages? Most likely just a secretary paid to pretend to be srk/kj/pc… sorry to burst your bubble, giggly excited girls…

  15. I am confused about this. Why this becomes an item worthy of discussion if SRK is able to enter silly, grammitical incorrect, single liner tweets? It could be his assistant typing on his Blackberry.

    A

  16. It could be his assistant typing on his Blackberry.

    karan johar is not his assistant, and all indian’s berries are not black.

  17. It does not matter if Karan Johar is his assistant or someone else and the used device. Question is – what is the significance of dictating silly one liner like — “I am going to shooting”, or “I am going to Uday’s birthday party”….Do we care? or Should we care?

    A-Arealblogger

  18. It does not matter if Karan Johar is his assistant or someone else and the used device.. ..Do we care? or Should we care?

    I do care. I think device is far too clinical a description, even if the assistant would tap that.

  19. There is an error in your article. Amitabh is not on Twitter as he has stated on his blog. There are a lot of people impersonating celebrities on Twitter.

    I’m beginning to despise Twitter since a lot of what is posted is just inane musings with lots of misspellings.

  20. Amitabh is not on Twitter as he has stated on his blog.

    Thanks Carol, that would explain the lack of followers. Do you have a link to that article?

  22. phillygrrl: word to khoofi-isms.

    SRK ain’t so shy. He’s a savvy PR and marketing guru who studies the American media every day and emulates their ways. Shrewd Old Fruity. Tweet before the movie release. Basic Hollywood PR 101.

    Can anyone conform if his new flick features an Obama scene? If the flick takes place post 9/11, why is Barack-a-like making an appearance? Me thinks it’s marketing as the story line doesn’t seem to jump 8 years ahead.

  23. SRK is shy? It was his friend who “insisted” that he share his life?

    Sure…Whatever you say SRK So glad I’m not on twitter to have to read what these twits write.

  25. Is Aamir Khan on Twitter and has anyone used it to inform him that he is no longer 20 years old?

  26. Is Aamir Khan on Twitter and has anyone used it to inform him that he is no longer 20 years old?

    Not sure, but he was HAWT when he was 20

  27. Phily Girl and others,

    My brain cells tell me there is a hidden agenda behind SRK’s tweeting. I found it easier to capture my thoughts at my blog. To read my thoughts click here .

  28. My brain cells tell me there is a hidden agenda behind SRK’s tweeting. I found it easier to capture my thoughts at my blog. To read my thoughts click here .

    The perfect meta-comment for this post. One person peddling his blog using another “shy” superstar’s tweets as an excuse!

  29. Not sure, but he was HAWT when he was 20

    Jenna, I think Aamir is STILL hot at 44, but this Rang De Basanti and 3 Idiots thing infuriates me because they start relegating most actresses to playing aunties in their early 30s no matter how fabulous they look. It’s not so much about him not passing for 20 as the double standard that annoys me. Anyways, sorry to derail the conversation, but I thought celebs joined Twitter so they could interact with fans yet it seems like noone has replied to his 3 Idiots tweet! Is this because we’re afraid, or because there’s a personal secretary screening tweets? Maybe I misunderstand the entire celebrity angle on Twitter?

  31. Hi just..had supaaa hot spicy goat curry by ma main man Kjohar…man…its gonna kill me tommorow mornin…all is well SRK OUT!

  32. Am I the only one who is just amused at his ID: iamsrk. So… apt for the King.

    But it’s still significant given how few Bollywood stars are actually on Twitter

    BTW: there are actually a good number of Indian celebs on twitter. Some, the ones who joined within the past two months, quite obviously to promote their films. Some of them also have facebook accounts either in their name or film name, i.e. Imtiaz Ali, Farhaan, etc etc. Now if you want to just take the biggest stars, then few. But plenty of recognizable BW stars are on twitter.

    of BW too lazy to type their full names Genelia Dino ABJr Shahid Uday Imran Sonam Riteish Priyanka Deepika (just this week, actually) Farhaan Abhay (but no actual tweets) Gul Madhavan Preity Anupham Siddharth Emraan Akshay Kumar Rahul Khanna Celina Jaitley Konkana Amrita Rao Ayesha Takia Lara Dutta Shruti Hassan Ranbir Kapoor Minisha Lamha Sanjay Suri

    And a bunch more, Neha Dhupia, etc etc. Also directors, producers, writers, reviewers, etc etc.

    Music directors such as Vishal-Shekhar and Salim-Sulaiman, as well as producers, i.e. Pritish Nandy–but he’s more of media person, which goes into a bigger list. AR Rahman, too, via facebook. But I think it’s his handlers.

    As well as singers: Kailash Kher

    The whole list is a pretty long one. I don’t know how often they tweet, but they were all verified in form of others vouching for them, the convos between the stars. Even of some of their accounts do not say “verified account.”

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