Ahead of the release of Fan, Shah Rukh Khan was busy making TV appearances and giving in terviews to market his movie. Far away from Mumbai, Muhammad Ashraf, 36, was also hard at work promoting the Yash Raj film. By day, Ashraf is HR head of a business conglomerate in Maldvies, but in cyberspace he's hailed as the founder of SRK Universe - the superstar's biggest global fan club. “We hire a cinema in each city for his film's first show, print T-shirts, and then cut a cake. This time I'm giving wristbands to 50,000 fans worldwide who come for the first show,“ says Ashraf over a phone conversation, adding that these activities eat up 90% of his earnings.

Obviously, Ashraf 's fan club is no ordinary one -- it's an empire with branches in 35 countries. Every Sunday he has a virtual general meeting with his counterparts spread over South Asia and Europe to discuss ways in which they can serve their idol better. “Sometimes, I feel like I work for him,“ admits Ashraf. And he does. Ashraf's biggest ammunition is his ability to constantly keep Khan alive on social media. “Ninety percent of the trends you see on Twitter about SRK are started by us. We have a 'trending army' of about 250 people. The moment I give them a hashtag about SRK, they will start tweeting, and within five minutes it will be trending,“ he says. Khan is well aware of SRK Universe and often retweets what they put out. Ashraf personally met the star only last year on his 50th birthday. “I was too stunned to talk to him,“ he says.

In a world where a celebrity's digital presence determines his or her worth as a brand, the power of fan clubs like Ashraf 's, with 3,59,000 followers, cannot be taken lightly. Actors today have multiple fan clubs on Twitter and Facebook with followers that run into thousands and lakhs. They doggedly track every tiny development about their beloved star - exclusive photos, videos, and interviews. “Actors like SRK, Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra have a huge digital presence and their fan clubs play a crucial part in that. Along with a manager and publicist, stars also have digital agencies to promote them online. Some of these agencies are hiring fans instead of professionals because they are so invested in the actors. These agencies work closely with fan clubs and keep them informed about important announcements,“ explains a celebrity manager who didn't want to be named.

“He is a star, but he still replies to every text of mine,“ says Deepak Suthar of his idol Arjun Kapoor. The commerce student, who runs the Twitter handle Team_Arjun, puts it in plainly: “We do almost everything that the PR is doing, but we don't get paid.“ He's not complaining. “I want to be like Arjun Kapoor. Losing 65kg is not a small thing. His dedication towards everything he does makes me his fan,“ he explains. Suthar has been developing a fan base for Kapoor since his debut film Ishaqzaade (2012). “I was the first person to bring all the Arjunzaades - Arjun Kapoor fans - under one roof. So far we've made 50-plus trends on Twitter and made many blogs and videos go viral,“ he declares.

The hard work hasn't gone unacknowledged. Celebrities go the extra mile to engage with their admirers - a practice initiated by Amitabh Bachchan three decades ago when he began the tradition of meeting fans outside his Juhu bungalow every Sunday. Over the years, Bachchan has cultivated an even deeper rapport with his followers through his personal blog. At last count, he had 20.2 million followers on Twitter.

When Ranveer Singh promotes his films, Falguni Upadhyay too sits up all night posting photos of his appearances. A student of jewellery design, Upadhyay first met the actor soon after the release of Band Baaja Baaraat (2010), when she told him about the FB fan club she had started. “He kept thanking me. He's always hugging people and spreading love. That's the best thing about him,“ she gushes. Years later, when Singh's team wanted to start an official FB page for the star, they asked Upadhyay if they could merge it with hers. She now runs the Twitter handle RanveerSingh_FC, and is actively invested in promoting the star's work online. Recently, Singh wished another female fan from Oman through a video of him animatedly singing 'Happy Birthday'. The young fan, Moumita Chatterjee, later posted on Facebook - 'Nothing in life has made me dance around the room, scream with joy, cry out of excitement and re-watch the same video a million times.' Suthar remembers feeling the same on his birthday last year when he met Kapoor at his home in Mumbai - a meeting organized by the actor's manager. “When I entered his home, he came out from his bedroom singing with a cake. I couldn't control my tears,“ he says. The youngster is now on texting terms with his idol.

There's a clear sense of ownership with which Suthar, Upadhyay and Ashraf speak of their heroes. The proximity they share with actors would have been unimaginable without social media. “In the '60s, I remember writing letters to Shashi Kapoor, Sadhana and Pran and they would respond with a picture and a thank-you letter. Sometimes it would be typed, sometimes handwritten. Pran would insist on writing to everyone. Now nobody writes fan mail anymore,“ says Dinesh Raheja, editor of Bollywood News Service and author. But Raheja feels the bonds made online are a wonderful thing for genuine admirers. “If you're a true fan, you should do something real to promote him. You can't just put up news about the star from a website, retweet it, and go back home,“ says Ashraf, passionately . But what's in it for him? “I can't explain it. I just need to do something for Shah Rukh,“ he says. His words sound eerily similar to the dialogue mouthed by Gaurav -the character playing Khan's fan in the film- 'Gharwale bhi na mere, samajhte hi nahi hain. Wo sirf star nahin hai, duniya hai meri'.

Courtesy Film Companion