Shah Rukh Khan has a smart strategy for ‘Zero’ and it is already doing wonders
Bollywood seems to get marketing smart with every film, it is not just the marketing strategists but Bollywood stars too, who are embracing newer stunts to engage fans to their films. The latest to try a new trend is none other than Shah Rukh Khan himself. For his upcoming Aanand L. Rai film, Zero, the star seems to be keen on Tweeting in Hindi.
For the past three days, Khan has taken to one of the country’s official language, Hindi to vent his anticipation over the film. With around 41.3% Hindi speakers in the country, Khan seems to be harping on regional sentiments with his Zero teaser announcement tweets.
If you are wondering how Tweeting in Hindi is advantageous to the star, then a sheer comparison in the reach of the Tweets will dispel all doubts. When Khan Tweeted Jab Harry Met Sejal’s poster on Jun 9, 2017, it got only nine thousand retweets while Khan’s current pinned Tweet announcing Zero teaser written in Hindi has garnered over nine thousand retweets in just 19 hours.
The difference in reach is not at all that startling given that there are 299 million smartphone users in India for whom English is a secondary language. Khan’s use of Hindi in his Tweets is thus only a smart move. Twitter currently has 23.2 million active Indian users while Khan’s followers stands at a whopping 32.2 million, indicating at a possibility that a majority of his users are Indians with whom Hindi is more easily read and spoken than English.
Our Bollywood stars may be producing and acting in Hindi films produced for Hindi speakers but when it comes to social media, they have rarely been seen embracing the language. Even at public events promoting their Hindi film, English has always been the language of ease for our stars. Khan seems to be breaking this elitist rule with his recent Tweets.
With 2017 having been a box-office wise not so great year for King Khan, Shah Rukh is all out to make Zero a success given that it is his only release for the year. This move seems to be working in Khan’s favour. We wonder if Bollywood’s marketing guru Aamir Khan and other stars will switch language on social media to get more people to watch them on screen.
