Bollywood celebs, now on Twitter

Everybody's on twitter now. From Rahul Gandhi (twitter handle: @RGAmethi) to @ShashiTharoor, Indian celebrities are storming the social networking site with obviously mixed responses.

Bollywood's on board with a vengeance, never one to be left behind. Here's a look at who's around, and how good they're doing:

Gul Panag
http://www.twitter.com/gulpanag
@gulpanag

The warmest and most accessible of twitter users, Gul has genuinely embraced the Twitter format to indulge in true two-way communication with her fans and cinema enthusiasts, all of whom like the way she is a biker girl who frequently posts pictures of herself -- and her dog -- using her iPhone. Great going.

Sample tweet:

"Sitting under tree while I wait for the artificial rain shot to be set up. Spiders and all things similar are falling all over me."

Mallika Sherawat
http://www.twitter.com/mallikaLA

Mallika Sherawat started tweeting in Los Angeles, presumably to keep up with celebs like Ashton Kutcher who have more than a million Twitter followers. Mallika's tweets are casual and fun, mentioning celeb tidbits and the star seems to have only now learnt how to reply to incoming tweets.

Sample tweet:

"Hisss a new female superhero flick? thats what studios r sayin. impressive, tho i thnk of it as a female empowerment film:)dnt mess wth nagin!"

Shahid Kapoor
http://www.twitter.com/shahidkapoor

Shahid's been keeping a low-profile on Twitter but seems to be doing relatively all right when it comes to answering his fans and giving out movie information. He hasn't developed a Twitter-personality per se but at least he's friendly and accessible, which is a good place to be.

Sample tweet:

"What do you think about this pair: Me and Genelia ?" and "Thanks friends for your response. Got around 16 yes and 4 No."

Preity Zinta
http://www.twitter.com/preityzinta

Preity's twitter-stream boasts of casual accessibility. Updated in random spurts whenever the actress has time, the stream has everything from random links about diamond-studded shoes to quotes about life and love to little lines on cricket exchanged with @RealGraemeSmith. Interesting only if you're a fan

Sample tweet:

"Shilpa was laughing when RRs wickets were falling down... Hope she understands Cricket. :D"

Purab Kohli
http://www.twitter.com/onephk

Purab Kohli's a recent Twitter convert, yanked aboard the bandwagon by enthused co-star Gul Panag. He doesn't tweet as often or as personally as Gul -- few of us do, really -- but he engages in quick quips with most incoming questions, and clearly loves talking about technology. And cameras.

Sample tweet:

"Banglore is in the final's?? who would have thought? they deserve it though. full marks Mr. KrUM-BLEr!"

The fakes:

@Shahrukh_Khan is interesting enough to read, updating sporadically about nothing at all; @Aamir_Khan is clearly a fan's project made up by taking a couple of lines from each of the blogposts at aamirkhan.com; @aishwaryarai is too unspecific and vacuous to be part of the legend's ramblings; @MallyaMan is entertaining but has never even pretended to be the real Vijay Mallya; and @sachintendulkar says nothing of note, and spells tomorrow 'tomaro' constantly.