Top News

Bollywood Star Fan Clubs: In Bollywood, the atmosphere around any big star's film starts building several days before its release. The name and film of that star starts trending on social media platforms, big posters and cutouts start appearing outside the theatre, fans arrive with drums and at many places the first show is also watched together. Seeing all this, it seems that thousands of people are doing all this at their level for their star. To a large extent this is true, because there is a lot of passion for the star in fan clubs. But big fan clubs are no longer just WhatsApp groups. Many clubs have regular organization, social media team and admin work in different cities. An academic study conducted on Shahrukh Khan's fan clubs also shows that the digital fan community plays an important role in the star's image and the promotion of films.

What is a fan club and how does it work?

First of all let us understand what this fan club is. Let us tell you that fan club is a group of people who like a particular actor or actress and do online or offline activities for him. After the advent of social media, the work of these clubs has become much more. Now the members of the fan club are not just a few fans sitting in one city, but thousands of fans from India and abroad can become a part of the online community.

For example, regarding Shahrukh Khan's fan club SRK Universe, Indian Express had told that its members are present in many cities of India and also abroad. The club has an admin system at the city and state level and also has its own social media team and designers. This means that in big fan clubs, work may be divided and each member has his own responsibility.

When the trailer of the film comes, a team shares it, someone makes a poster, someone uses the hashtag on Instagram or Instagram. Apart from this, he also adds more fans. For this reason, the discussion about a star's name increases at the time of its release. However, it would not be correct to consider every trend or viral post as being linked to a celebrity's team. Many times this is done purely for the happiness of the fans.

How are the expenses of the fan club covered?

The most important thing here is that the funding method of every fan club is not the same. On the basis of this one thing, it cannot be said that all the clubs get money from the star's team or any PR agency. Many fan clubs carry out activities with the help of their members. Members can deposit money as per their budget and use it to organize birthday celebrations, posters, cakes, charity events or movie watching events. Some clubs also make T-shirts, caps or other merchandise for their members. Whereas the administrators who run the expenses of some fan clubs pay from their own pockets.

An example of this comes from Shahrukh Khan's fan clubs. Times of India quoted the founder of SRK Universe as saying that the club used to book the first show of the film in different cities and spend money on T-shirts and other fan activations. That is, it is not right to hold only any external funding responsible for fan activity.

Is there any connection between the star's team and fan club?

Yes, in many cases there is a connection. This is the part that makes this whole system interesting. Administrators of big fan clubs are often in connection with the star's team. This does not mean that the star's team writes every post or every fan club pays money to trend the star's name.

In the case of SRK Universe, Indian Express quoted its co-founder as saying that the fan club is in touch with the star's team and Shahrukh Khan knows and praises their work. The use of fan community in film promotion is also not new. For example, in 2015, Yash Raj Films directly linked the SRK Universe to its campaign during the promotion of its film 'Fan'. It makes sense that when a star's fan club becomes big and active, it is beneficial for the marketing team of the film.

Why is the fan club active at the time of film release?

Before the release of a film, the activity of fan clubs suddenly increases because at that time it is necessary to make both the star and the film reach as many people as possible. When a trailer, song or poster is released, fans share it on social media, give reactions and discuss it on their respective social media accounts.

Some big clubs come to watch the film on the very first day of its release. This also creates an atmosphere outside the theatre. Drums, posters, cake cutting and slogans in the name of the star reach the social media in the form of videos. But an important difference should be understood here. Watching a film by buying the tickets of the fan club itself and gathering a crowd by paying people on behalf of a production company is not the same thing. Activities such as paid crowds or 'fan engagement' have also been reported in the industry, where agencies associated with marketing teams mobilize crowds. But it would not be right to apply this formula to every fan club.

What benefits do stars get from fan clubs?

The direct benefit is organic revenue and a strong fan community is formed. The official post of a film comes once from the star's account, but fan clubs share it in large quantities from different accounts. With this, the same content can reach many people. Apart from this, fan clubs are not limited to just film promotion. Many clubs also organize birthday celebrations, charity, blood donation and other social activities. There is also mention of film screening, charity and social-awareness activities on Team Shah Rukh Khan's website. Also, the club itself has made it clear that it does not have any direct connection with Shahrukh Khan or his company. From this it can be understood that a star having a big fan club and it being officially run by the star's team are two different things. Another advantage for the star is that he gets a chance to connect directly with his fans. At the same time, it can be a big deal for the fans to get a chance to meet the star, to meet him on his birthday, to get a pass to a special screening or any event. That means a kind of access and connection is created on both sides.

Is fan-war on social media also a part of this system?

Another face of fan clubs is social media fan-war. When the release of films of two big stars is around the corner, fan-war and debate starts between their fans. Who is the big star, whose film is good, whose trailer gets more views. There are a lot of debates about whose song is trending more. But here too it is not right to link everything with the game of PR. All these fans also do this out of their own choice. Yes, there have definitely been reports of fan engagement being used as a marketing tool in the industry. An Indian Express report mentioned agencies working with marketing teams and 'fan engagement' activities. That is, calling every voice seen on social media 'paid' is as wrong as assuming that every online trend is organic.