Lahore varsity celebrating 'Bollywood Day' sparks debate in Pakistan

LAHORE: A university in Lahore celebrating ‘Bollywood Day’ as one of its farewell events for the senior batch has divided the internet in Pakistan, the media reported.

While some people wished to go back in time and dress up as their favourite Indian stars, others bashed the students for their “vilifying” behaviour and for “shamelessly” representing an industry that “regularly aims to create anti-Pakistan movies”, The Express Tribune reported.

A video, posted on TikTok originally, made rounds on Twitter which started the debate.

While the internet in Pakistan is divided on whether celebrating in such a manner is okay or not, one thing that everyone can agree on is that the students understood the assignment clearly.

From ‘Mohabbatein’s’ Raj Malhotra to Ajay Devgn’s iconic Inspector Bajirao Singham and ‘Student of the Year’s’ Shanaya Singhania, the students went all in.

Users called out people hating on the students for pretending like they didn’t know most characters in the video, The Express Tribune reported.

“A nation obsessed over Bollywood movies for decades, where every wedding predominantly features Bollywood songs is suddenly outraged over LUMS celebrating Bollywood day,” a Twitter user said.

“LUMS having a bollywood day isn’t a problem, it’s a symptom of a problem. We should reflect on why we look to India for our entertainment. What’s wrong with our own film industry? Does anyone ever watch lollywood??” another one added.

Some users argued that there’s no need to bash them because the students are just “trying to have fun”.

“Unpopular opinion but LUMS is in the wrong here with the Bollywood day thing. We are living in Pakistan, we are not supposed to have any fun, just meltdowns over Twitter and killing random people for baseless charges. Joy is a sin,” a Twitter user said in sarcasm.