Australians have trained in Hollywood, with Sydney Sweeney outclassing India’s Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bhanjan due to the physical fan clubs he owns in India. This analysis arouses curiosity in finding out why an 27-year-old actress from Euphoria has made such an exception in wooing many Indian fans.
The Rise of Sydney Sweeney’s Physical Fan Clubs
Sydney Sweeney has seen a huge increase in her following in 2023 as physical clubs such as these sprouted up across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Contrary to the now-too-common digital fan page, these fan clubs have locations listed on Google Maps.
This would be a major throwback to the 1970s and 1980s, when Bachchan had over hundreds of offline clubs; it is amazing for a Hollywood star who has no mainstream Indian presence. Her viral ad campaigns and Euphoria fame partly fuel this, but the scale-surpassing Shah Rukh’s mere three to four physical clubs-defies logic.
Are Bollywood Icons Loosing To Sydney Sweeny?
Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, popularly known as Bollywood “King” and “Heir Apparent”, saw their physical fan clubs shrivel up. Juxtaposed with the more than a dozen places where he had offline branches, the filmmaker is now down to only two, with Kolkata and Mumbai as his houses. Shah Rukh retains a local base of only a few physical clubs, despite a 5.7 lakh follower base under the name SRK Universe from various worldwide audiences.
The times are now changing from the physical space towards the virtual world, and today, most Indian stars do not need physical spaces anymore, yet Sweeney’s fans seem to be in direct contradiction with this. Did this revival create nostalgia or was it simply her peculiarity due to globalization?
What’s Driving This Strange Trend?
Her fresh face, with a relatable personality, and good brand endorsements by most of them might have made her relatable for all cultures. The reality of fan clubs being physical gives a sense of passionate devotion that can be stereotypically almost retro, and perhaps further exaggerated by a general inclination towards celebrity in India.
While Bollywood fans remained active in the online world, Sweeney’s offline outburst indicates a craving for more tangible fandom in this digital world. These notions bring up questions on how fan culture is evolving!
