“My fans are my best friends. They make up for the kamee (lack) of friends in my life. They love me unconditionally,” Shah Rukh once mentioned this at a press conference a few years back. With stardom comes a huge fan-following, and Shah Rukh is one actor who is adored by millions across the globe. The Pathaan actor often keeps his date with his fans on Eid and his birthday when every year, fans throng outside his house, Mannat, to get a glimpse of their favourite superstar.
But recently a few fans were in for a treat as the superstar himself took out time to meet them. Shah Rukh recently wrapped up the Chennai schedule of his upcoming film Jawaan which is directed by Atlee and will also feature Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara. The actor shot for more than a month and came back to Mumbai on Sunday.
The Chennai Express actor has a loyal fan following and one of them is Sudhir Kothari who has converted his personal account on Twitter into a fan account.
@SRKCHENNAIFC has almost 150k followers and is moderated and run by Kothari. While SRK was shooting in Chennai, Kothari, who has met his favourite actor several times in the past, requested the actor’s team if they could arrange a meet and greet with selected members of the fan club. “I reached out to Pooja Dadlani ma’am and Karuna (Badwal) ma’am who manage sir. They spoke to sir, who said that he would like to meet us once he finishes the shoot,” he said adding, “After a few days I got a call that sir will meet us on October 8 which was the day when he wrapped up the Chennai schedule of Jawaan,”
A team of 20 members had their dream come true as they were soon going to meet their favourite superstar, “While we are a big family, it was difficult to select the 20 people who would be meeting Shah Rukh Khan. The decision was taken on the basis of how active they are through the years. We do a lot of charity, fans shows and other philanthropic work in the name of SRK and it is on this basis, we decided to do the selection,” explains Kothari.
He further says that the entire meeting went really smoothly, “For the meeting sir had called us to a five-star hotel which was in the outskirts of Chennai. We were asked to reach at around 5:30 pm. He had booked two rooms for us and also took care of all our requirements. A manager along with two butlers were allotted to us and we could order anything from the menu. Ravi (Singh, Shah Rukh Khan’s bodyguard) sir along with Pooja ma’am and Karuna ma’am took great care of us.”
Kothari reveals that Shah Rukh, instead of meeting everyone together, insisted on meeting individually, “Sir told his staff that he would like to meet us individually in his suite. He gave us all enough time to interact, click pictures and even present him with our gifts. He didn’t rush and was very gentle and soft spoken and heard everyone and interacted really sweetly. While leaving he told us to have dinner and go.”
Apart from presenting the actor with collage of his upcoming films (Pathaan, Jawaan and Dunki), Kothari also presented Shah Rukh with the first copy of his book, The Only Fan SRK Follows, which he plans to release on the actor’s birthday, “I am the only fan account which sir follows. I had an individual account which I converted into a fan account, and he has been following us for many years now. I wrote this book and it was with me for a long time. I wanted to present him with the first copy and my dream came true. He took one copy and signed another for me. He promised to read the book. I will be unveiling the book on sir’s birthday for which I am really excited about. We even presented him with a collage which he said he would take to Mannat.”
“Being the biggest superstar in the world, the way SRK sir took care of us is one thing that no one can do,” Kothari concludes with a big smile.
