So many people have always asked me about the starting point of SRKUniverse. Most of you know “why” I started this. But the “when” and “how” parts of it have always generated curiosity. When we began, the one thing we were perfectly sure about was to go about this fan club in an extremely professional manner, taking care of all the permissions and legalities that would be needed. As I was going through my inbox, I came across this mail, the very first one ever sent, with reference to SRKUniverse. So this is “how” it all began.
Dear …………,
Please find attached the plans for our project. If you need any other information, please do not hesitate to ask. My friend and I are new to this, but we will pursue it in a professional manner.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support, as we fans are always ready to challenge this kind of project because of the support and the appreciation we get from Shah Rukh Khan and his staff.
I hope you will support us at this time as well and give us a favorable reply.
Thank you,
Mohamed Ashraf
WHO I AM
My Name is Muhammad Ashraf, and I am 32 years old. I live and work in Maldives. I am the Group Human Resources Manager for one of the biggest groups of companies in the country. I am married and have two beautiful sons. In addition to my job, I look after my father’s construction company.
I have been a fan of Shah Rukh Khan since I was 18. I have seen all his films and followed all the news reports about him. Every night I check for SRK news before I retire, and every morning I check for SRK news before my tea. This has been my daily routine for the last 14 years. Whenever a new film of his is released, I go to Trivandrum or Sri Lanka to see it, because in my country we have no cinemas that show new releases.
Following the life of SRK, I have learned that hard work will take you wherever you want to go in life, no matter what obstacles may be in the way. I believe I am successful in my own life because I have followed my idol’s life and tried to work as hard as he has.
My project head is ……….. He has been active on Twitter for a year now. His real name is …………….., and he lives in ………….., India. He is a very active SRK fan, and with his wit and sarcasm he has confronted posters who unreasonably dislike SRK, instead of simply abusing them as other fans sometimes do. Other SRK fans on Twitter respect and admire ………….. because he believes in spreading love and joy. He has also initiated many of the trends related to SRK and Chennai Express. He hosted in the most professional manner all of the quiz contests I sponsored, and he gave the Chennai Express campaign by SRK fans a broader reach.
If you ask an SRK fan anywhere in the world, especially those on Twitter, they will know all about …………….. By hosting all these contests and trends he has become the most famous SRK fan on Twitter.
DETAILS OF THE PROJECT
It has been a dream of mine for the past ten years to do something to support my idol Shah Rukh Khan, and for the last five years I have been researching possibilities and saving money for this project. In my research, I noticed that most of SRK’s Twitter and Facebook fans are very young. They seem to have the most fan clubs and a lot of free time to participate just for fun. I have also noticed that there are many factions, and there is no single guiding source for them. These clubs are jealous of each other, and are unwilling to cooperate in spreading information but just do their own thing. However, in a short period of time, my friend and I have begun to receive considerable respect from most fans because of the professionalism which we maintain in dealing with them. Now, whenever we call for some activity, they are all ready to participate.
Therefore, we thought, “Why not bring all the fans under one roof?” and then we conceived the idea of a global fan website dedicated to Shah Rukh Khan.
We noticed that most of the active SRK fan clubs do little for their readers other than update the news. We would like to develop a comprehensive website that would also introduce vigorous campaigns to promote SRK and his movies. For instance, we envision promoting a flash mob competition for fans over the world on SRK’s birthday, with perhaps three winning teams each awarded $……… and Chennai Express DVDs. I have already received inquiries from teams in five countries who are interested in participating in this event.
Last month I bought the http://www.srkuniverse.com domain with the intention of building a fan website with Twitter and Facebook pages as well. We have already started using our Twitter handle, http://www.twitter.com/SRKUniverse , which now has more than 22,000 followers!
My aim is to develop this in a professional manner and on a large scale, where we can attract SRK fans from all over the world and provide them with updates on his life, his film work, and other activities, as well as promote his films and projects and hold mega contests when appropriate, as for instance when Happy New Year is released next year. In addition, once the website is up, we would like to seek approval to hire local photographers where SRK is working, so that we can have exclusive photos and information for our website.
Since I informally announced this last August, I have been receiving tremendous support from SRK fans all over the world. Many of them have asked to be a part of this project, and every day my friend and I receive numerous emails asking for an update on its status.
HOW WE PLAN TO OPERATE THE WEBSITE
My friend and I hope to host one of the best fan sites ever created. To do that, we are ready to exert maximum personal time and effort, and we are also ready to invest a minimum of USD ……………. in this project. As soon as the website is up and running, we can enlist the most eager fans as core team members to operate and maintain it, perhaps for a small honorarium.
We are not doing this for personal gain; this is just for the love and respect we have for Shah Rukh Khan and what he is doing for the world. As a part of this website’s goal, we plan to find ways to help the poor, to sponsor Indian street children, and to support others who are in need.
What we would like to request is the approval or acknowledgement of Red Chillies Entertainment or Shah Rukh Khan. Other than a blessing for our project, we are not asking for financial or any other assistance. We are just concerned whether it is acceptable or permissible for us to go ahead with this global SRK fan website project.
I began with a dream, and it would not have been possible for me to achieve it had it not been for the constant support of the friends and family I made along this way. Be it right at the beginning or right now, I am obliged and thankful to each and every one of those members who have contributed to taking SRKUniverse to where it is now.
It is still a long way to go ahead, many dreams yet to achieve. And I am confident that we will keep scaling great heights.
Thank you each and everybody. And I wish you a very happy, healthy and successful new year.
Work,life,Family and SRK 