New York, Nov 5: “Dhoom Machale…” The exuberant, celebratory track from the 2004 blockbuster “Dhoom” rounded off Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech, more evidence that New York’s newly elected mayor embraces his many identities with a light as souffle touch.
The 34-year-old Indian-descent democrat, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, defeated independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday night.
As Mamdani concluded his speech before hundreds of supporters with “New York, this power it’s yours. This city belongs to you. Thank you”, the title track of the Abhishek Bachchan-John Abraham-starrer started playing in the background.
He was joined on stage by wife Rama Duwaji and his parents as the speech ended, the pulsating tune playing all the while in the background. Mamdani is the first South Asian, the first Muslim and the youngest to helm the administration of the world’s financial capital.
The chartbuster “Dhoom Machale” was sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and set to music by Pritam Chakraborty. It became a nationwide sensation for its peppy beats and catchy chorus, making it one of Bollywood’s most popular dance anthems of the 2000s.
This is not the first time that Mamdani, who was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was seven, has used the popular appeal of Hindi cinema.
Several of his campaign videos, to reach out to New York’s Indian American voters, used songs and dialogues from hit Hindi movies to great effect. One video, for instance, referenced “Deewaar”, “Karz” and “Om Shanti Om”, all cult hits from the recent and not so recent past.
Hours after his historic win, Mamdani delivered a thundering speech in front of his supporters, saying his victory toppled a “political dynasty” and also quoted the words of former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
“Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru – a moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new,” he added.
The use of “Dhoom Machale” set social media abuzz, with many users applauding Mamdani for his choice of song.
Noted American journalist Mehdi Hasan posted, “Hey white supremacists, Zohran ended his speech tonight with ‘Dhoom machale’. Bollywood music. Cry more, racist losers.”
“Probably one of the most iconic things to ever happen at the end of the New York Mayor’s victory speech…they really dropped ‘Dhoom Machale’!” wrote one user on X.
Added another, “Zohran Mamdani closes victory speech as mayor of New York to Dhoom Machale. This is like a Bollywood movie in real life.”
“New yorkers have been exposed to the magic of ‘Dhoom Machale’ mashallah.” (PTI)
