‘Mere paas janta hai': How Bollywood and Hindi are powering Mira Nair's son Zohran Mamdani's run for NYC mayor
Zohran Mamdani, a New York State Assembly member and Democratic mayoral candidate, has turned to Bollywood to fire up his campaign for the city's mayoral race, and is doing it using the lingua franca of those of South Asian descent – Hinglish.
In a video posted on social media, Mamdani—who could become the first South Asian mayor of New York City—invokes the cinematic legacy of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Kishore Kumar to challenge front-runner Andrew Cuomo, in a campaign message that feels more like a film trailer than a typical political ad. It is quite fitting as he is the son of acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, who has directed internationally acclaimed films such as Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake. The background music is Deewanagi Deewangi from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Om Shanti Om.
The video opens with a scene from Deewar (1975), where Amitabh Bachchan, playing the hardened Vijay, faces off with his idealistic brother Ravi (Shashi Kapoor). In the original, Vijay boasts:
'Aaj mere paas buildingein hain, property hai, bangla hai, bank balance hai, gaadi hai. Tumhare paas kya hai? ('Today I have buildings, property, a bungalow, a bank balance, and a car. What do you have?'
The video cuts before Shashi Kapoor can reply. Instead, Mamdani appears on screen, arms stretched wide in Shah Rukh Khan's signature pose—his answer: 'Main paas janta hai' (I have the people).
His campaign weaves Bollywood nostalgia into political messaging. The iconic scene from Amitabh Bachchan's Deewar, a symbol of class conflict and moral divide in Hindi cinema, is reimagined for American politics for his immigrant voter base. And the SRK pose—made famous in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and repeated across his filmography, makes him instantly relatable.
Billionaires ke paas already sab kuchh hai. Ab, aapka time aageya.
Billionaires already have everything. Now, your time has come. pic.twitter.com/bJcgxzt37S
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 4, 2025
Using Kishore Kumar's voice from the film Karz (1980), Mamdani introduces the idea of ranked-choice voting with a clever twist: 'Hey, have you ever voted for anyone? Have you ever ranked anyone?'—a playful but pointed question to New York's multilingual electorate. He also uses the beloved summer beverage, lassi (buttermilk), to explain rank-based voting.
Urging the electorate not to vote for Cuomo, whom he marks as his primary adversary, he uses the lyrics: 'Khana milega pina milega bhaiya ki shadi hai sab kuch milega' to subtly send home the message that while Donald Trump-backed candidate may offer freebees, real change will be elusive. This is followed by the line: 'Billionaires already have everything. Now your time has come.'
In yet another nod to classic Hindi cinema, Mamdani invokes the phrase 'Roti, Kapda aur Makaan', the title of the 1974 Manoj Kumar film, to drive home the election plank of basic affordability, a key theme of his campaign.
The video presents a stark contrast between Mamdani's populist pitch and Cuomo's elite image. Though Mamdani is speaking to New Yorkers, the language, music, and imagery are unmistakably Indian. After all, his target electorate comprises South Asian immigrants, first-generation voters, and working-class communities who might not see themselves in typical political campaigns.
The election will take place on June 24.
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