Caught in a starry web!
Sunday, 15 July 2007 01:32
Networking on Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, YouTube, Orkut or Hi5 is just the new thing to do. They've been around, but it's the latest fad to be on them. Whether you're single and looking for "anything you can get" if not love or you wanna see Amitabh Bachchan's four minute dialogue from the hit Amar Akbar Anthony or upload your birthday bash online to chatting with 'hotmale' Sabeer Bhatia. But guess what? Bollywood's big on these sites too. Right from Amitabh Bachchan to SRK to Hrithik Roshan to Preity Zinta to Zayed Khan. Never mind those rumours flying fast and furious about the Bachchan and SRK cold war. On Facebook, they are friends who write on each other's walls, throw in a friendly poke here and there too! And the man with the sculpted abs to die for and actor par excellence, Hrithik Roshan has a friend called Govind Gulaab Jamun Rasgulaa Rangrass! Really. But what's really funny is that Salman Khan has both current girlfriend Katrina Kaif and ex flame Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on his friends list and neither seems to be complaining. And John Abraham too. Miracles never cease, do they? Whoever said they had any problem obviously hasn't been to this network site. Even Dev Anand has moved on with the times and has a wide network of web friends. Clearly, technology is no bar for this evergreen star. And Preity Zinta is in search of power and wealth on Orkut whilst Abhishek Bachchan talks about hip hop on Hi5. And if you ever wanted to know what Priyanka Chopra's nick name was, just login into Orkut. It's Sunshine and Mimi.

But before you go off to search for them, hold your mouse. They aren't the real stars, but fake identities of them, with only their glam pictures to mislead an ignoramus on the web. But then, one would have to be really lame to buy into the whole gig. We mean, do you really think Hrithik would spell hypocrites like hippocrates? Nevertheless, it's fun whilst it lasts.

Screen writer Shibani Bathija, who's currently writing Kidnap and Krrish 3, says, "I find it hilarious to think stars who struggle to keep a low public profile would go so public on these social networking sites and with their real names. Through the groups that are available on Facebook, I get to interact with people from across the world and it's also prime research material for scripts to come. As a writer, you don't write only from your own experiences, but also from those of others. My favourite professor from university is also on the site and I reconnected with him after so many years." Teens of course have a myriad reasons to be online, dating being the key reason. But 14-year-old Prathamesh Khanna does not have the time to check out girls online. "Dude, that's so done with! I would much rather meet 'real' girls than virtual ones. And I don't believe any of the actors on Orkut are the real ones, but it's fun to check out their profiles and send them scraps. My friends and I are on Orkut 'cos we have this online games community where we talk about the latest games and play them. It's pretty cool. And we get our share of virtual bombshells on the games!"

But some of the webbers have fallen prey to actors online. "I really thought it was Zayed Khan 'cos he sounded really cool and when I came to know it was some bloke from Manchester impersonating him, I was so mad! Now I screen all my friends and don't chat with anyone randomly. It's quite scary actually ," says 21-year-old Rhea Singh.

Well, Bollywood sure can cast its web on anyone in the cyber world!

khan.rubina@timesgroup .com

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