Zohran Mamdani turns New York City mayoral race into Bollywood blockbuster

When Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced his candidacy for New York City mayor last October, he was seen as a long shot. But an affordability-centred messaging and social media-driven campaign sprinkled with Bollywood tadka has propelled the 33-year-old assemblyman to the forefront of the Democratic primary field.

Born to Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, Zohran Mamdani has leaned into his South Asian heritage and captured the attention of younger, immigrant, and working-class New Yorkers with his populist platform and savvy use of Hindi film nostalgia.

Last week, Mamdani dropped a campaign video on X peppered with classic Bollywood film scenes and music. Speaking in Hindi, he explains the voting process, makes the case for affordability, and takes aim at his main rival: former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who is backed by US President Donald Trump.

A democratic socialist, Mamdani framed the race as a choice between a people-powered movement and billionaire-backed politics.

The 2-minute, 23-second video features the iconic scene from Deewar, where Amitabh Bachchan’s character Vijay boasts, “Aaj mere paas buildingein hain, property hai, bangla hai, bank balance hai, gaadi hai. Tumhare paas kya hai? (Today I have buildings, property, a bungalow, a bank balance, and a car. What do you have?).”

A beat later, Mamdani appears on screen, arms spread in Shah Rukh Khan’s signature pose, responding simply: “Aap” (I have the people).

The message is clear: Mamdani is positioning himself as the candidate of the people, against Cuomo, whom he portrays as emblematic of elite privilege and establishment politics.

To explain New York’s ranked choice voting system, Mamdani borrows Kishore Kumar’s voice from Karz and uses glasses of lassi as props: “Hey, have you ever voted for anyone? Have you ever ranked anyone?”

This is not your typical New York City mayoral campaign.

Mamdani has fused desi pop culture with policy to communicate a progressive vision: free city buses, controlling apartment rents, city-run grocery stores, and a $10 billion tax hike on the ultra-wealthy to pay for it all.

“We can guarantee cheaper groceries, we can raise the minimum wage, we can freeze the rent for more than 2 million tenants, and build more than 200,000 affordable homes. We are done settling for less,” he declares in another ad—rooted in the spirit of Roti, Kapda aur Makaan, the 1974 Bachchan-starrer that named the three most basic human needs.

With a short-lived career as a hip-hop artist, Mamdani now calls himself the Kendrick Lamar of affordability—intent on sticking to a message that speaks to working-class frustration.

“Billionaires ke paas already sab kuchh hai. Ab, aapka time aageya (Billionaires already have everything. Now, your time has come),” he says in his video, a callback to the rap anthem from Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt-starrer Gully Boy.

But Mamdani’s rise has not come without controversy. His vocal criticism of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights have earned him a fair share of detractors.

He has also been branded “anti-Hindu” for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “war criminal” with reference to the latter’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. PM Modi was given a clean chit by a Supreme Court-appointed probe.

“Narendra Modi helped to orchestrate what was a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat to the extent that [people] don’t even believe there are Gujarat Muslims anymore,” Mamdani recently said at a forum. “This is someone we should view in the same manner we do Benjamin Netanyahu. This is a war criminal.”

His Muslim heritage has also drawn vitriol, but Mamdani has turned the attacks into campaign fodder.

“When you’re the first Muslim elected official to run for mayor, people say some pretty wild things,” he quipped in a video.

With New York City—America’s largest metropolis—grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, housing shortages, transit issues, and deep inequality, the next mayor faces enormous challenges. Mamdani, powered by Bollywood swagger and socialist fire, has cast himself as the underdog hero standing up for the little guy.