The new mayor-elect of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, an Indian Muslim, surprised everyone when he played the popular Bollywood track ‘Dhoom Machale’- a title song of the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Dhoom’ in 2004, at the end of his victory speech on Tuesday. The moment quickly went viral, as supporters celebrated his win in Brooklyn while the energetic song echoed through the hall.
Dhoom Machale song features the film’s lead characters dancing and singing to lyrics that translate loosely as “have a blast,” “make some noise,” or “make an impact.”
The Bollywood track reflected Mamdani’s Indian roots. His parents were born in India before moving to Uganda, where he was born.
His mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning film director who has made films like Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay. The father of Zohran Mamdani, Mehmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University and a writer on colonialism in African history.
Zohran Mamdani closes victory speech as mayor of New York to Dhoom Machale. This is like a Bollywood movie in real life 😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/2M9ic2wazO
— sohom (@AwaaraHoon) November 5, 2025
Bollywood influences were not limited to his victory night. Throughout his election campaign, Mamdani infused his materials with Indian elements — including movie scenes, dialogues, and posters inspired by Bollywood.
According to the New York Times, the designer of the election ad campaign of Mr. Mamdani, Aneesh Bhupati, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, said that Zohran Mamdani had mentioned adding “a touch of Bollywood” to his campaign visuals, drawing inspiration from Indian movie posters for his main logo.
Read more: ‘AI president’: Trump deepfakes glorify himself, trash rivals
Social media users were quick to point out that Mamdani’s love for Bollywood — particularly Dhoom Machale — is long-standing. In 2021, he had tweeted the song’s title lyrics: “dune machale dune machale dune”.
Several of his campaign videos even featured dialogues from iconic Hindi films such as Deewaar, Karz, and Om Shanti Om, resonating strongly with young South Asian voters and symbolizing pride in his heritage.
While addressing his supporters, in one of his ad campaigns, he featured a very famous scene from a Hindi movie, featuring legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor.
“Today I have buildings, property, a bungalow, a bank balance, and a car. What do you have?” a character from the 1975 action drama “Deewaar” says in the clip. The ad cuts to Mr. Mamdani replying with his arms outstretched: “You.”
GVS South Asia Desk