Treat for the fans as Bollywood starts to Tweet
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 20 July 2009, 16:07 IST   |    3 Comments
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Treat for the fans as Bollywood starts to Tweet
Bangalore: Bollywood stars are following their western counterparts and have started using social networking sites to increase their fan base. Few years ago, Bollywood actors used to reply only to fan mail. They were used to sending signed photographs by post. Things have changed now as more and more Bollywood actors are using the web to tell people about their latest updates. Celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Celina Jaitley, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan are posting photos, videos and their thoughts on films, news and life on personal websites. Actress Priyanka Chopra says to AFP that writing is therapeutic and that she is now hooked on Twitter. "It started as a lark, a quest of discovery, and now I find my fingers twitching for my Nokia or my laptop wherever something interesting happens. I have great fun interacting with my 'Tweeps'. At least they believe it's the real me, unlike some of you guys, who still aren't sure that it's me reading your mails." she added. Her feed reveals her recent thoughts on everything from Michael Jackson's death to updates about her shooting schedule and even the monsoon rains. Few actresses like Sonam Kapoor tweet to inform her fans about her favorite serials and news about upcoming movies. Mayank Shekhar, National Cultural Editor at The Hindustan Times, said to AFP that the switch to technology makes sense given the growing hunger for Bollywood news. "There's been an increase in the number of newspapers and television stations that are after the same five people. Most newspapers have 5-10 pages (on Bollywood) every day," he told AFP. Amitabh Bachchan is one of the most active celeb tweeter in India. Every day he tweets about his experience in life and comments personally to his fans' comments. He also gives response to the news articles written about him. There have already been many clashes on web amongst celebrities. Amitabh Bachchan had made controversial remarks on the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionare. The biggest controversy so far is the clash between Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan. It all started when Aamir Khan wrote on his personal website that he has named his dog Shahrukh. Page 3 reporters are now getting important information about the actors directly for them through web. It is as good as interviewing the actor. This might just reduce any false rumors about these celebrities going around as its more easier for stars to deny baseless rumors and allegations on web. But so far mostly, technology is used for maintaining strong fan base.

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