Video: Up against Rajnath, AAP's Javed Jaffrey raps to court voters

Actor-turned-politician Javed Jaffrey, who is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Lucknow has released a new rap video as part of his election campaign. Jaffery is contesting against BJP’s Rajnath Singh, Congress’ Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Samajawadi Party candidate Abhishek Mishra. The rap video shows Jaffrey in his avataar from the film Salaam Namaste dressed as an ‘Indian cowboy’, mocking the ‘sab chalta hai, sab bikta hai’ (everything goes, everything sells) culture of Indian politics and society. The video starts with the oldest montage of the Doordarshan sign and the signature music of ‘Saare Jahan se Achcha’, after which Jaffery comes on screen rapping. He says, “Saare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan, but can’t even afford a kachaa." And yes, he appears wearing a kachaa to emphasise his point. [caption id=“attachment_1492747” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Screengrab from YouTube.[/caption] Jaffery raps about everything that went wrong since India achieved Independence and mentions Bhagalpur riots, Bhopal gas tragedy, Bofors scam, Gujarat riots, demolition of Babri Masjid and the abysmal state of Mumbai city. The song also shows a montage of politicians fighting inside state assembly premises. You can also hear the ‘All is well’ from 3 Idiots being shouted in the background, with Jaffery replying ‘Ghanta’. The video goes on to mention pretty much every scam: from Coalgate, the fodder scam, IPL controversy, 2G and Commonwealth. He also mocks pretty much every one from the doodhwallah to the musicwallahs who are all indulging in some form of wrong-doing. Towards the end, the video says that even though 99 percent people parties are corrupt, there is still hope in the form of Aam Aadmi Party. The video ends with a picture of Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilla in the background, and when Jaffery pulls the flush, it turns into a slum. Yes it is possibly a little preachy and predictable, especially since it comes from an AAP candidate. However, it’s hunorous and not heavy with fake emotions. Frankly speaking, it is a good break from SP’s Maan se hai Mulayam or NaMo’s Main Desh nahi mitne doonga.