Shah Rukh Khan ahead of PM Modi with 16 mn followers on Twitter

Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who's in the midst of a controversy after his comment on "extreme intolerance" in India, has zoomed past Prime Minister Narendra Modi's followers with the 16 million milestone. He is now the second most followed Indian on the micro-blogging platform.

Shah Rukh, one of Hindi cinema's most globally popular stars, is trailing only behind megastar Amitabh Bachchan who has a whopping 17.6 million followers. Modi now takes the third spot with 15.8 million followers.

The 'badshah' of Bollywood joined Twitter as @iamsrk on January 3, 2010, and since then has known to be one of the most active users on the platform, regularly tweeting special family photographs, favourite film memories, heartfelt poetry, philosophical quotes and more. The superstar is known to engage with his fans across the globe very closely with interactive question-and-answer sessions, and even shares life advice.

The tech-savvy actor also joined Periscope on his 50th birthday to involve his fans (in real-time) across the world in as part of his birthday celebrations here on November 2.

On his special day, conversations on Twitter spiked at 350,000 with #HappyBirthdayKingKhan emerging as the top trend of the day. Fans took to Twitter to celebrate this occasion with celebratory tweets, photographs and videos of their onscreen idol, showcasing their love and sending birthday wishes to the superstar.

Leading Bollywood celebrities including Karan Johar, Hrithik Roshan, Farah Khan, Kajol and Preity Zinta among a string others wished him good health and happiness.

Having regaled his fans with a mix of actioners, romantic entertainers and comedy roles in his over two-decade long career in films and TV, SRK has cemented his space in Hindi cinema as well as his audience's heart with his charm, wit and spontaneity, that come so naturally to him.

The actor is currently in news following his comment that there is "extreme intolerance" in India. For this, a BJP MP compared him with Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed, while another senior BJP leader called him a 'deshdrohi' (traitor), and Sadhvi Prachi dubbed him a "Pakistani agent".

On the silver screen, the "Happy New Year" star will next be seen in filmmaker Rohit Shetty's movie "Dilwale", which will bring Shah Rukh and Kajol together on the big screen after five years.