On 25th July 2021, Kashmiri comedian Musaib Bhat posted a video song on YouTube titled “Downtown“. Within hours the song broke the internet. It was shared across all social platforms and everyone was dancing to its catchy tunes within a day.
The video had more than 5 lakh views within four days. In this song Musaib describes the everyday happenings of the area in a satirical way. Earlier these Musaib had shot to fame when his TikTok videos proved to be a massive hit among the masses. Later he continued his presence on social media by making prank videos that again got millions of views and brought him more love and fanfare.
So what inspired this boy from Nawa Kadal area of Downtown to pen down this song? Here we take a look at the idea behind this popular hit song.
About the song
The song describes everyday life situation in Downtown and in essence. It features scenes highlighting the standout portrayal of downtown. From old bridges to crammed housing to those old dusty roofs, the video covers them all one by one.
the things that perhaps almost every Kashmiri can relate to. His friends also join in on the song and add to its eccentricity and likeability.
The video also pays homage to the bonds of people in the city that make everyday life tick despite challenging circumstances. Also during one of the scenes of this adorable video Musaib mentions the various places with the suffix “kadals” of downtown area.
Musaib comes of age.
You will be surprised to know that the person who makes you laugh on camera, used to be camera shy and was introduced to TikTok by a friend. Once Musaib got a taste for the social media he didn’t look back. He began posting videos on Facebook and Instagram which proved to be an instant hit, criticism however remained.
For Musaib this can be termed as a coming of age content. While Musaib has his fans in great numbers but there were still detractors. The work done in this video by the hilarious content creator will make even his harshest critic admire him. He has used humour to present the problems faced by people of Kashmir, even so in its very heart in the old city.
His journey to this point hasn’t been easy. Thrown out of his own house for making TikTok videos, he has gradually won over his family and others with the content he has been making. While so far he made prank videos and other such funny videos, this song is fun blended in with different aspects of life in downtown.
What’s the idea behind this song?
To some viewers or listeners the song may appear as another attempt by the comic to tickle our funny bone. But its actual meaning is more deep than that. The song showcases the troubles of a place that have existed since what seems the beginning of time.
The music video hilariously projects these matters while offering an insight of what it means to live in that part of the world.
Through this song Musaib highlights grievances of people of the old city and how they keep moving forward inspite of these. He raises the issues of a lack of basic facilities like ambulances, marriage halls, cramped spaces among other. For a place titled Shehr-e-Khas, the deficiency of such amenities is appalling to say the least.
Musaib through his lyrics and humour raises these thought provoking matters. As we know these issues plague not only the old city but anyone living anywhere in Kashmir will be able to relate to the lyrics of this hit number.
What motivated Musaib to produce this video was his experience of living outside downtown in another part of Srinagar. But according to him the contrast is between same parts of a city nearby is striking.
Presenting the age old traditions and aspects of downtown in a single video of less than 5 minutes was challenging. However, Musaib not only accomplishes that but with it sends a resounding message.
Kashmiri’s content
In today’s digital age a lot people of spreading positive messages, creating awareness on daily life matters, Musaib does that in this video in his own unique way. He believes that content creators in Kashmir should do what they can to raise voice on social issues in their own unique way.
Musaib Bhat has shown that an artist hones his craft over the time and that there is space on internet for tasteful Kashmiri content. “Downtown” deserves its place in the plethora of great Kashmiri content we have seen on the internet.