Bollywood in the Cyberplex.

From launching blogs to profiles on Facebook and Twitter,Bollywood celebrities are going all out to directly interact with fans.Here's taking stock of the ones who have made maximum impact

WHEN Lisa Ray started blogging about her fight with white blood cell cancer over a series of posts called The Yellow Diaries, the Indian filmstar's direct online interaction with fans reached a new level. For the first time, a star was using cyber space to make public the news of a fatal disease.

What started as a platform for our stars to present opinions, garner publicity and share news directly with fans is now a fullfledged fad. While the trend really kickstarted with the blogs of Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood has quickly forayed other popular avenues, namely Twitter and Facebook. It has made our stars more accessible. You can poke Farhan Akhtar on Facebook, quiz Priyanka Chopra about her latest style statement on Twitter or learn what Ram Gopal Varma is up to on his blog. As Aamir says about blogging: "This is me, unplugged and uncensored."

At this rate, of course, our stars won't need PRs and secretaries for long. Facebooker filmmaker Piyush Jha says: "Now I don't have to take appointments from stars anymore. I just need to poke and tweet them." For the second-string or rising Bollywood celebrity, it is a way to get fans interested by presenting a fascinating picture of himself or herself "You realise the fame of it all. Everyone is watching," says blogger and former Facebooker Shruti Haasan.

Of course, there have been the fakes. Crazy fans have been quick to float fake profiles, posing as their favourite stars. A fake Twitter account of Katrina Kaif had her 'revealing' how she loved reading the new Harry Potter book. Going by Freida Pinto's fake account, she has no qualms in using the 'F' word. And Shahid Kapur 'confessed' being unhappy about having Genelia D'Souza as co-star in Chance Pe Dance. Facebook and Twitter have also seen fake accounts of Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kajol, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sushmita Sen and Bipasha Basu, among others. That is the flip side of technology. But it won't stop stars from blogging, tweeting and getting facebooked.

sharin.bhatti @mailtoday.in

The blog bugs

KANGNA RANAUT

HER blog has become popular for her casual writing style. She likes to use the word 'like', almost as she speaks, for instance: "Like the Farhan Akhtar show this week, my life like is full of surprises." The lady has also been putting up pictures. Lately her puffed-up lips from stills of her vacation in Rome had everyone speculating if she had gone for a lip surgery job. Fan mail she receives on her blog ranges from ex-lover Adhyayan Suman being called "a sore loser" to marriage proposals. "You are my Jennifer Aniston,"

LISA RAY

SHElet the world know of her ongoing battle with cancer on her blog, while revealing a flair for language. "Share shock. Imagine a world where we never hide. I've decided now I want people to feel sorry for me... I've started joking 'bout playing the Cancer Card. Oh yeah, I'm Blitzkrieging my way to Full Remission," she writes in The Yellow Diaries. She has revealed her immense optimism, accepting her fate with courage and dark humour. "I am gently carbonatingC* My bobcat and I now floss togetherC*," she writes in her blog, keeping drama at bay.

RAM GOPAL VARMA

RGV's blog is just like him: experimental, unpredictable and, at times, vain. Sample him lambasting the reviews Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey received: "It ( Kaminey) is folded in a package of mediocre cinema but because it is marketed well we watch it... Not one frame in the movie is relatable." The post generated the most number of hits ever received by Varma. Of course, most Bollywood fans were not too pleased. But then, Varma doesn't spare himself either. "There are people who do and people who don't want to do but the majority can't decide... I call them the inbetweenists... What is scary is perhaps I could be one of them?" Varma writes in self-assessment.

SHRUTI HAASAN

SHE mainly uses her blog on myspace to forward her musical career with her band, the Extramentals. "On this blogspace I am Shruti the musician not Shruti the actor or Shruti the Haasan daughter... I am my own person and I like the fact... no other medium will let me talk," she writes. Shruti puts up her compositions and lyrics and her posts have a niche following, mostly comprising musicians and music lovers. She sums up her reason for blogging thus: "I don't talk about what I feel. It's about how I feel when I make music."

The Tweeters

SONAM KAPOOR

SONAM defines your typical Tweeter. He profile is energetic, nonchalant and liberally selfindulgent. No wonder, despite having tweeted for just about two months now, she is the most followed celeb online. A recent post has Sonam complaining about how co-star Imran Khan of her upcoming flick, I Hate Love Stories, is constantly bullying her. Sonam says she loves to interact with just about anyone who interests her. Her profile page generally has her engaging in chats with almost anybody who offers her a piece of advice. "It started as a whim. I realised it's cool for a person like me, who likes to talk constantly. I reply to each entry on my profile and have received feedback on my work. It really helps," she says.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA

PRIYANKA Chopra admits on her Twitter account that she was really "caught in a catch-22 (situation) till sometime ago between promoting WYR (referring to her upcoming film What's Your Rashee?) and coming back from a girly vacation". An avid Tweeter that she is, Priyanka however doesn't waste half a chance to log on. She manages to get on Twitter even in between film promotion sprees. So, on her Twitter page, she can be seen "flaunting my view from the venue of promoting WYR at a hotel in Juhu". Priyanka, on her Twitter account, is mostly sending invites to friends such as Punit Malhotra, Vishal Dadlani and Imran Khan. She

TARUN MANSUKHANI

AMONG the zillion celebrities on Twitter, Dostana director Tarun Mansukhani has made his mark with his movie reviews. Tarun's reviews have already guaranteed 2,500 followers, quickly taking him to the top of Twitter charts in less than a month. His reviews may not be correct but they do amuse. So, while most critics all over the world have raved about the cult sci-fi flick District 9, he writes: "It's aweful. It's almost trying hard to be a romantic comedy." Bashing Hollywood flicks could be Tarun's way of attracting attention as a filmmaker, but his consistently hyperactive style of tweeting does make him popular. He updates every few minutes but he isn't always politically correct. Sample this entry on Section 377: "Just met a hermaphrodite beggar... Feels good to know they are free now."

KARAN JOHAR

KARAN Johar is furiously tweeting away of late, on how work has sort of become taxing. It's like this: K.Jo hates shooting his films at night and yet he is doing just that these days. "Back to set after a day's gap, hate night shootings but have a crucial scene tonight," he writes. Unlike most other showbiz celebrities online, the world of Karan Johar doesn't seem to be just about 'I, Me, Myself'. Karan's Twitter profile also accommodates facts about his best friends. For instance, if there's any wrong news doing the rounds on dear buddy Shah Rukh Khan, Karan is the first one to set the records straight. As he did recently when someone floated a fake SRK account on Twitter. "SRK is not on Twitter," Karan clarified. Karan loves reaching out to fans too, and constantly seeks opinions on his films. Right now, anyone can send comments on his upcoming films, My Name Is Khanand Wake Up Sid. "Your opinions matters. Come watch my movies and make me famous :-p," he writes.

RITEISH DESHMUKH

"It's just about status updates," declares Riteish, when you ask him to define the Twitter craze. "What's the big deal about?" he continues, before finally admitting it's an addiction of sorts, and that's what the 'big deal' is all about: "Now, however, I have to check my deck every few minutes." Riteish is Bollywood's latest Tweeter. He tells you his friends, filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Uday Chopra, were the ones who got him hooked to the medium. "Karan and Uday put me on Twitter and now we all often discuss how many followers we have and who among others are worth following," Riteish says. Meanwhile, he is also using the medium effectively to promote his forthcoming biggie, Aladin. "Twitter is the biggest addiction to catch on in Bollywood after the gaming console," he sums up.

The Facebookers

ANURAG KASHYAP

ANURAG admits he's constantly fighting the urge to leave Facebook. "It's hard to leave. It's like home, like fame. It's comfortable," he writes. The other reason is his love for online scrabble. His profile is flooded with friends posting views on his scrabble addiction. There's cinema talk too. "Anurag, we heard you're rewriting Devdas," wrote a fan before Dev.D released. "Make him look good." Anurag uses Facebook to promote 'different' cinema. "We don't have to do what's expected. My good friend Abhay (Deol) demonstrates how," he writes.

FARHAN AKHTAR

HE'S the most innovative Bollywood Facebookers when it comes to film promotion. Before the launch of Rock On!, his acting debut, he posted video links of the film. The trick was soon copied. He also posted chords of the film's songs. He has also aggressively campaigned for sister Zoya's Luck By Chanceafter it was nominated for the Engender Movie Awards in New York. "Help us win. It's our biggest movie," he writes.

ZOYA AKHTAR

UNLIKE brother Farhan, Zoya is more subdued. She quotes from books and shares movie advice. "Follow your instinct and don't make brains drones like slapstick Bollywood cinema. Nothing is worse," she writes. She also posts pictures of her myriad interests, all the while struggling to insist that she is a cool, approachable and well-networked celebrity. Her Facebook site only has 600 friends, though.

VISHAL DADLANI

RIGHT now, music composer Vishal Dadlani is on a mission to ensure the Chhatrapati Sivaji statue project on Mumbai's sea face doesn't happen. "I am in the process of getting 25,000 signatures and Facebook is my biggest tool. I realised many think like me," he says. His Facebook page is fancy and interactive. "I am online almost all day, whenever I get net access," he reveals.

Copyright 2009 India Today Group. All Rights Reserved.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company