e-Paper
Pakistani content creator Dananeer Mobeen's "Pawri Ho Rahi Hai" video has taken over India, with Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor and the team of his upcoming yet-to-be-titled web series being among the first to adopt the trend.
The cast members recreated and improvised the viral meme on the sets, clips of which were shared by Shahid on his Instagram handle.
"Yeh mere stars hai, yeh hum hai, aur yahan pawri ho rahi hai (these are my stars, this is me, and we are having a party)," says a film unit member in the video as Shahid carries on dancing in his chair while singing Honey Singh's Party All Night.
Actors Randeep Hooda, Sidharth Malhotra and Deepika Padukone also recreated the meme in Instagram videos with the hashtag "Pawri ho Rahi hai" as the original video by Dananeer racked up more than six million views in India and Pakistan within three days.
It also spawned several variants, including a mash-up by Indian content maker Yashraj Mukhate which accumulated 18 million views in just five days.
Over a five-second effort, Dananeer managed to do the impossible - bring social media users in India and Pakistan together, noted the BBC.
From the Pakistan cricket team to policemen in Uttar Pradesh and Indian army soldiers, millions of people in both countries have now jumped on the bandwagon and are posting their own versions of "Pawri Ho Rahi Hai".
"Someone pinch me!" Dananeer exclaimed on her Instagram story on Monday. "I must be dreaming! This is crazy! I'm humbled beyond belief. So grateful for all the love that I have received in the past few days.
"My name means wealth and I've got plenty of wealth in the form of love now!"
Little did the 19-year-old know on Feb 6, when she uploaded the video on her Instagram page, that she would become a celebrity within a few weeks in both nations.
The girl from Peshawar made the original video during a trip with her friends to the northern areas of Pakistan. It was meant to take a dig at the "burgers" (Pakistani elites who study or work outside Pakistan and speak with an American or British accent), who visit the northern mountainous parts of Pakistan on holiday.
On the face of it, there is nothing special about the video.
Dananeer says: "This is our car, this is us and this is our party." The video shows a bunch of young people enjoying themselves. "It's not my style to talk like this in burger style. I did it just to make you all (my Instagram followers) laugh," she adds.
But, far from being offended, Pakistanis starting recreating the short clip and doing what Pakistani Twitter does best: Making memes. It wasn't long before some high-profile actors and cricketers got involved.
The Pakistan Cricket Board shared a video of the Pakistan team doing their version of the video after winning a Test series against South Africa.
It also saw an explosion in popularity across the border after Indian DJ and viral remix sensation Mukhate took her phrase "ye humari pawri hori hai" (we are partying) and turned it into a catchy song.
Soon, Indian social media users jumped into the "memefest". And then the floodgates opened - from brands to police officers, all joined the "pawri" mood.
"What could be better than sharing love across the border at a time when there is so much trouble and so much division around the world," Dananeer told BBC Urdu.
She told another interviewer in fluent English that there was one moment when she absolutely felt flooded with positive vibes.
"There was this one tweet that said that after 70 years of rivalry a young girl from Pakistan has rekindled a wave of positivity and dialogue between the two nations (India and Pakistan) and has created a beautiful trend," Dananeer said.
"That really put it in perspective for me and that was huge for me. I was shook."
Many people are now approaching her with offers in showbiz but Dananeer said she will weigh the options first.
"This is such a new avenue for me, I still have to explore so many aspects of this world right now," she told the Khaleej Times.
"I don't want to feel pressured into doing anything, it has to come from the heart. I also want to respect my family's guidelines. But, if there's an offer that I would love to do, I'd love to talk to my family about it."
Indo-Asian News Service
