New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani recently acted out the iconic SRK pose. (Facebook/@ZohranKMamdani File Photo/Prashant Nadkar)
New York City mayor-elect and US Democratic Party member Zohran Mamdani recently found himself in a hilariously awkward position when he was quizzed on his Bollywood knowledge. While he answered one question correctly, Mamdani couldn’t get the remaining ones right. Nonetheless, he proved his love for Bollywood by pulling out the most potent weapon in Hindi cinema lovers’ arsenal and effortlessly acing the iconic Shah Rukh Khan pose.
During a recent interview, British journalist Mehdi Hasan steered the conversation in a lighter direction, announcing that he had a quick quiz lined up. Although Mamdani warned that Hasan was setting him up for failure, they went ahead anyway. “I want to be very clear, I am going to fail this,” Mamdani said as Hasan revealed that the segment was called “Guess the Bollywood song.” As the journalist began playing a track on his phone, the New York City mayor-designate identified it almost instantly and rightly guessed “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from the Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala-starrer Dil Se (1998).
Although Mamdani managed to heave a sigh of relief, the happiness was short-lived as Hasan played another track, and the former had zero clue what it was. “You have made it very unnecessarily tense now,” Hasan said, as Mamdani began headbanging to the song. Quipping that the segment should have included the “Call a friend” option, like on the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the politician admitted he didn’t know the song — “It’s the Time to Disco” from Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003).
Hasan, meanwhile, went for a rather easier one in the next turn. As soon as the track began playing on his phone, Mamdani exclaimed, “I feel like Shah Rukh Khan is moving in the song,” to which the scribe confirmed that it was indeed an SRK track. “[Maybe] he’s just come to the top of the steps and was like,” Mamdani said as he acted out the iconic SRK pose.
However, Hasan saw through it and quipped that Mamdani was simply buying time instead of making a guess. Realising his tactic had been exposed, Mamdani covered his gleeful face with his hands as he failed to identify the iconic “Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna“ from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).
It may be recalled that as Mamdani wrapped up his victory speech after winning the New York City mayoral election, the organisers had played the song “Dhoom Machale” from the 2004 heist action blockbuster Dhoom, making it a viral moment.
Leave a Reply