Hyderabad: On the first day of his visit to Egypt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was treated to a famous Bollywood song by an Egyptian woman, attired in a sari and bedecked in traditional Indian jewellery.
Jena, a young Egyptian woman, gave PM Modi a pleasant surprise with the song 'Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge' from the film Sholay in Cairo. In the video that became an instant viral hit, the Prime Minister is seen avidly listening to the popular Bollywood song that she belted out in the presence of several other Egyptian artists, all dressed in Indian attires amid the applause of all present.
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These saree clad girls, welcoming the Prime Minister in Cairo, aren’t Indians but Egyptians. One of them even sang a melodious Hindi song. When your host go the extra mile to reflect the cultural sensibilities of your country, it is often a reflection of your rising eminence. pic.twitter.com/fd2dJZ58ib
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 24, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">These saree clad girls, welcoming the Prime Minister in Cairo, aren’t Indians but Egyptians. One of them even sang a melodious Hindi song. When your host go the extra mile to reflect the cultural sensibilities of your country, it is often a reflection of your rising eminence. pic.twitter.com/fd2dJZ58ib
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 24, 2023These saree clad girls, welcoming the Prime Minister in Cairo, aren’t Indians but Egyptians. One of them even sang a melodious Hindi song. When your host go the extra mile to reflect the cultural sensibilities of your country, it is often a reflection of your rising eminence. pic.twitter.com/fd2dJZ58ib
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 24, 2023
Modi attentively listened to the song and expressed his appreciation by exclaiming “Waah!”.Jena became the heartthrob of millions of people back home in India. She also said expressed her love for Bollywood songs. "I've never been to India before. I've been singing an Indian song since I was like six years old. So it's like 11 or 12 years. It was so good to meet PM Modi. He told me that we look like we are from India. There's no difference." She was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
"It was so good. Like, when I saw him smiling and I think he loved what I did. So I was so honoured to meet him," she said. Several members of the Indian community were present at the Ritz Carlton Hotel to welcome PM Modi. The Indian diaspora displayed their enthusiasm by waving the Tricolour and chanting "Modi Modi" and "Vande Mataram" slogans. Many children were also present in the diaspora. Many people also sang Indian songs and presented cultural programmes to welcome PM Modi.
Bollywood link and Egypt-India cultural ties
There have been talks of cultural ties between Egypt and India which PM Modi emphasised and often said runs deeper. Over a span of decades in the land of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah , many Egyptians have forged personal bond with Hindi films. Dilip Kumar’s Aan became popular in the Islamic country. Amitabh Bachchan's Mard and Shah Rukh Khan’s My Name is Khan were two other Bollywood movies which were widely watched by cine lovers in Cairo. Apart from common people, top politicians in that country also showed their admiration for Hindi movies. Egypt’s ex-President Gamal Abdel Nasser made headlines when he attended the 7th Filmfare Awards in Mumbai in 1960. Bollywood too has been captured Egypt’s landscape and monuments, especially the pyramids. Ancient civilisations renewed ties and bonded over cultural commonalities in recent times.
