Watch | ‘We are all Dhinchak Pooja’: AIB’s latest video calls out hypocrisy and elitism

Dhinchak Pooja emerged on the Indian music scene a year ago and took YouTube by storm, becoming the face of what is called Indian cringe-pop.

Belting out songs like ‘Selfie Maine Le Li’, ‘Swag Wali Topi’ and ‘Dilon ka Shooter’ one after the other, the 24-year-old had the internet on tenterhooks, heavy with anticipation, waiting for her next ‘horrific’ release. Much of the internet’s fascination with Dhinchak Pooja centres around ridiculing her songs and her accent, while at the same time participating in making her videos go viral.

In a new video, comedy group AIB calls out our hypocrisy, elitism and voyeuristic tendencies when it comes to viral videos such as these. The monologue by comedian Naveen Polishetty is a comment on how even though we publicly despise Dhinchak Pooja, we click on a video, comment on it, share it, helping it become ‘viral’ and then complain about it becoming viral.

The video calls out our inability to break through the ‘Log kya kahenge syndrome’, which Dhinchak Pooja is immune to, powering through online hate and whiplash; How she’s not tone deaf, but ‘troll-deaf’.

The video is a larger commentary on all of us – the more elitist we think we are, the funnier Dhinchak Pooja’s accent will appear.

Dhinchak Pooja, Tahir Shah, Bhim Nirula all constitute an entity that embodies the concept of ‘us and them’.

The video ends by drawing attention to how we are the first generation of middle-class Indians who have dared to step outside the ‘doctors’ and ‘engineers’ career restrictions and follow our passions. “There’s no point pondering over what sort of response you’ll get for your actions. There’s just one way to find out - by doing it,” says Polishetty.

Polishetty signs off by reminding the viewers that, “Tomorrow’s regret should be more daunting than today’s public hatred, because every time you laugh at Dhinchak Pooja, you laugh at yourself.”

You can watch the video here: