By Syed Raza Hassan
KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – A 19-year-old Pakistani student who rose to fame after her five-second video went viral on social media across the subcontinent, hopes that several interpretations of her monologue will translate into more dialogue between neighbors rivals India and Pakistan.
The short video filmed by Dananeer Mobeen in the Nathaigali Mountains in northern Pakistan and posted on Instagram shows a group of young people having fun by the side of a road.
Rotating the device he is filming on, Mobeen gestures backwards and says in Urdu: “This is our car, it’s us and this is our party going on.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CK9JmaXBEtc/
Seemingly innocuous, she mispronounces the English word “party” as “pawri” to mock South Asians who adopt Western accents. It immediately reached audiences in India and Pakistan, generating the main hashtags on social media and winning millions of views and hundreds of spin-offs.
“It was the most random video. Initially, I had no intention of uploading it,” said Mobeen, expressing surprise at how viral it became and adding the trend that showed the power and reach of social media.
The interpretations of the monologue “Pawri” were used by the police in India and by the Delhi Commission for Women in their social media campaigns.
In a video, two Indian soldiers stationed in snowy mountains give their own version with “This is us, this is our weapon and we are patrolling here”, while popular Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone made a version that was also viral.
Indian dairy company Amul, known for inculcating trendy approaches to current issues in its ads, made a “this is our pav-tea” version, in honor of a popular snack of bread eaten with tea. https://twitter.com/Amul_Coop/status/1362262247809028100
Even politicians joined the movement, with a leader of the Indian ruling party Bharatiya Janata using the eye-catching hook at an election rally.
“I am honored and grateful for all the love across the border,” said Mobeen, expressing his happiness at promoting some rare friendly dialogues across the border.
India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, have fought three wars and have often had strained relations since gaining independence in 1947.
Relations have recently soured with developments in northern Kashmir, which both countries control in parts, but fully affirm.
Last week, his military issued a rare joint statement saying they agreed to observe a ceasefire along the disputed Kashmir border, after exchanging shots hundreds of times in the past few months.
Since the video went viral, Mobeen said it was inundated with acting and modeling offers, along with requests for product endorsements. Instead, she says she wants to join Pakistan’s foreign services.
(Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan; Additional reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Gibran Peshimam and Karishma Singh)