SEMrush Study: Irrfan Khan’s Tragic Demise Leads To Surge In Online searches

SEMrush study has found that Irrfan Khan’s sad demise has led to a massive increase in online searches for the actor. In India, online searches for the actor increased by 6,900% while globally, there was a surge of 6,200%. Irrfan Khan’s career had its roots in the Indian film industry; he was also an international celebrity. He had significant roles in major Hollywood productions like Jurassic World, The Namesake, Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire, Inferno, and The Amazing Spiderman. His roles in Bollywood movies like Life in a Metro and Paan Singh Tomar won him wide acclaim.

The study found that since his untimely death, there has been an outpouring of emotion on the internet. No doubt his fans took to expressing their anguish at the loss of a talented celebrity. On twitter, the top tags where fans paid their respects to the talented actor were #irrfankhan, #ripirrfankhan, #ripirfankhan, #irrfan, #restinpiece, and #rip. The number of tweets on these hashtags, respectively numbered 4073, 351, 341, 291, 255, and 163.

Fans also expressed their feelings with emojis on Twitter. The most widely used emoji was one meant to convey shock; it was used 1002 times. Other emojis, such as crying, were used to express extreme distress. The most emotive emoji- a face with tears springing from the eyes- was used 439 times. A less sad but mournful emoji- a tearful face- was used 288 times. Some fans decided to forgo using faces to express emotion and turned to emojis like broken hearts and flowers to convey the loss they felt. On twitter, the broken heart and flowers emojis were used 389 and 198 times.  

Other emojis like a sad face, a black heart and shame were shared as well. Of these three emojis, each respectively was used 171, 157, and 26 times. After a thorough analysis, SEMrush found that 45% of the sentiment expressed online about Irrfan Khan was neutral, 33% was positive, and 21% was negative. Undoubtedly many expressing neutral emotions felt that though they had suffered a tragic loss, the occasion called for a more formal response. Those who expressed a positive reaction likely believed that the versatile actor was in a better place. They probably felt the need to celebrate the actor’s life rather than mourn his passing.

Speaking about the results of the study Fernando Angulo, Head of Communications, SEMrush said “We have lost an extraordinary personality. Irrfan Khan was one of the most versatile actors in the world. He could play characters that were intense, light-hearted and anywhere in between. An actor who exuded integrity and passion, Irrfan Khan, was a personality with whom the common person could connect. He had honed his craft to become a method actor who could flawlessly capture the essence of every character he represented. We have lost an accomplished actor and friend yet his memory will live on forever in the hearts of millions of his fans”.