It is not new for a global star like Shahrukh Khan to appear trending on social media sites. He is one of the very few superstars to exist in the world, obviously for his amazing performances in the movies, his net worth that competes and sometimes aces among other highly admired Hollywood A-listers, along with his opinions, responses to what others opine about him, and many more.
This time as well, Shahrukh Khan is trending on social sites, specifically on Twitter with #ShahrukhKhan for a very emotional gesture he made at the funeral of late Lata Mangeshkar ji, when he performed ‘dua’ in front of Lata Ji’s mortal remains. Fans went overboard seeing photos with him and his manager Pooja, who were offering prayers to Lata ji, paying tribute at her final rites. This gesture was highly admired by many fans and even observers. However, the admiration came a day later when India’s ruling political party BJP followers spread the different news using the same photo. They said Shahrukh Khan was spitting the body, with a morphed version of the same picture redirecting it in a different light. This created a huge buzz the day before followed by Khan’s fans defending him, saying he was actually paying respect to Lata ji. When things cleared out that he was actually reading dua and blowing it out to Lataji, Shahrukh was standing way ahead of his haters.
Likewise, there is one more reason why Shahrukh is trending. This reason has doubled the trend intensity on the social site. After the official Twitter Handle of Hyundai Company in Pakistan posted about ‘Kashmir Day’, Indian people started the hashtag with #hyundaiwithterrorist, #boycotthyundai, and #hyundaipakistan saying Hyundai is supporting Pakistan and terrorists. The former hashtag is also rapidly trending on Twitter at the moment with many Indian people expressing commitment and suggestions to replace Hyundai cars with Tata or others. And since Shahrukh endorses the Hyundai brand in India, people are seeking and questioning why is Shahrukh not sharing any defending opinion on the same.
Observation and opinions are doing the round regarding Shahrukh’s name being used time and again with statements like ‘He is an under-utilized instrument in India’s foreign policy.’, ‘Hindu Right Wing targets Bollywood’s Muslim Super Star Shahrukh Khan once again.’ and “Despite his efforts to avoid politics and politicians, #ShahRukhKhan is under siege because he epitomises an idea of India that is under siege.” among others.