Zohran Mamdani clinched an unbelievable victory at the New York City mayoral elections on November 4. Becoming the Big Apple’s first-ever Indian-American mayor, the Uganda-born assemblyman scripted history on multiple levels. However, what particularly added to his new brand identity as an “icon for Gen Z” was how he walked off stage following his winning speech with the Bollywood song “Dhoom Machale” playing in the background.

The eye-widening moment was hailed a big win for “desi millennials,” who, in turn, lauded him for tapping the original 2004 film’s title track sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, instead of its sequel’s signature theme. For the unversed, the 2004 blockbuster action thriller Dhoom, starring Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Uday Chopra, Esha Deol and Rimi Sen, was backed by the legendary Hindi films production banner Yash Raj Films.

Mumbai CEO’s viral take on Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Dhoom Machale’ moment

Mumbai-based Viraj Sheth, who is the CEO and co-founder of the advertising services company Monk-E, joined in many others to rave about the buzzworthy surprise no one saw coming in NYC.

ALSO READ

“YRF did nothing to capitalise on the Mamdani Dhoom Machale moment,” he wrote on X Thursday. “No comment. no retweet. no story repost.”

As the CEO of Monk Entertainment, which is dubbed “India’s largest creator business,” Sheth’s brain cells raced along the lines of marketing strategy while he tweeted the message this week. “Reason why every legacy company needs a GenZ social media manager,” he said of the film production company’s Mamdani snub.

Netizens on why YRF skipped publicising Mamdani’s viral Dhoom Machale antics

Social media users lost all calm after checking out Sheth’s post. “Are you saying GenZ social media manager won’t have brains to understand the repercussions of what you are suggesting?” someone fumed in the comments.

Another person rationalised the inaction, saying, “That makes no sense, it is not that easy. If they start associating and capitalise that essentially means they are picking a side and that correlates to them agreeing to whatever he says. He has said some questionable things about the PM. This is extremely short sighted.”

A third user added, “There’s a reason why YRF is a legacy company whereas your Gen Z agency is one amongst many. They know which battles to pick, where to speak and where to shut up. Mamdani caters to 0.1% of the Indians that too for the optics and that’s not even YRF’s main audience.”

Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Modi hater’ status offered as reason for YRF snub

Regardless of how furious many Indians were seeing the Monk-E CEO’s social media take, the facts can’t be altered. It is true that a significant fraction of Indians or Indian-origin people were overjoyed to see some “Brown representation” in the United States at a time when divisive politics has amplified anti-India hate in America, especially in light of US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

However, another truth is that Mamdani has never shied away from reminding the world of his anti-Narendra Modi stance. Although born in Uganda, the Indian-origin representative shares Gujarati roots, owing to his father Mahmood Mamdani’s background.

ALSO READ

Earlier this year, the Indian-American’s stark comparison of the Indian prime minister and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu drew heated backlash. During a campaign event, Mamdani not only likened the two leaders, but also branded them “war criminals.”

Alluding to his own Gujarati Muslim identity, the Democratic socialist accused PM Modi of orchestrating “what was a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat.” When asked about his views on the Indian leader, he added, “To the extent that we don’t even believe there are Gujarati Muslims anymore… And this is someone we should view in the same manner that we do Benjamin Netanyahu, this is a war criminal.”

In October, Mamdani again name-dropped Modi during his temple-hopping escapades on the occasion of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. “I have been critical of Modi because I grew up with a vision of an India where everyone belonged,” he said last month.

Insisting that his vision of India depicted the country as being “pluralistic,” where everyone belonged no matter their religion.” Taking a swipe at the prime minister and his Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), he went on to say, “Modi and the BJP have room only for certain kinds of Indians. Pluralism is something to be celebrated, something to be strived for.”

Acknowledging that he knew how his take on Modi vastly differed from others, he said, “Eight and a half million people… many of whom may feel differently than me about Mr Modi, and that’s their right and I will look to represent them all the same.”

It is worth noting that Zohran Mamdani shares both Hindu and Muslim connections. His mother and filmmaker Mira Nair comes from a Hindu family, while his father, who is a prominent scholar and professor at Columbia University, is Muslim.