Desi Or Not, Zorhan Mamdani Is Full Filmy Like Us. His NYC Mayor Campaign Reels Are Proof
Filmy speeches, Bollywood references or taking on an opponent in the traditional style, how would you campaign if you were the son of a celebrated filmmaker like Mira Nair? Zorhan Mamdani gave a completely different spin to the campaign for the New York Mayor polls, wherein he took against popular Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani, is now poised to become New York City’s first Indian-American and Muslim mayor.
In reels shared on his Instagram profile, Mamdani is seen trying every 'Desi' move to tap into the nostalgia and cultural memory of New York's South Asian community. And yes, talking in Hindi without an accent gives him extra marks.
In one viral video, he recreated the iconic 'Deewar' dialogue made famous by Amitabh Bachchan, "Aaj mere paas buildingein hai, property hai… Tumhare paas kya hai?" The caption read: "Billionaires ke paas already sab kuchh hai. Ab, aapka time aagaya." (Billionaires already have everything. Now, your time has come.)
Set to the energetic "Deewangi" track from Om Shanti Om, the video combined humour with a sharp political message on wealth inequality.
Mamdani’s core pitch — affordable roti, kapda aur makaan (food, clothing, and housing) — cleverly borrowed from Bollywood but reflected his real policy goals: rent freezes, free public buses, universal childcare, and affordable groceries.
Zorhan Mamdani Tries His Hand At Bangla
In another reel, the 31-year-old was seen speaking in Bangla while enjoying rasgullas, and in one creative clip, he reimagined a Kishore Kumar classic to explain rank-based voting, using glasses of lassi as props.
Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary with 43.5% of the vote and over 90% ballots counted.
As the son of The Namesake and Monsoon Wedding director Mira Nair, Mamdani’s campaign was anything but conventional — and that made all the difference.
Zorhan Mamdani Love Story
Mamdani's another video is going viral, where he revealed that he met his wife Rama Duwaji on the dating platform Hinge. In a lighthearted moment captured in a recent video by comedian Kaneez Surka, Mamdani shared, "I found my wife on Hinge. So (dating apps) still work," he said, laughing.
He also linked New York's affordability crisis to modern romance struggles, noting, “The love of your life may be too stressed about surviving in the most expensive city in the US to find you."
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