Musaib Bashir, Kashmir’s Popular Comedian
Sajeda Akhter
Khan
Mohd Shah Dilawar Khan
Haji Ali Mohd Shah Dilawar Khan
Peerzada Haji Ali Mohd Shah Dilawar Khan
In how many ways can you say the above words? How much can you scrunch up your face and twist your eyebrows and roll your eyes and do a whole lot more when you say these few words? Welcome to the world of Musaid Bashir, a Kashmiri comedian. Open a Musaib video, and you’ll find yourself going Hahaha! Check out his rocking facial antics singing the superhit Nimbuda song from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. His pranks taking friends and strangers off-guard. Musaib’s lip-sync to child talk or popular songs. Funny spoof of an old aunt, a young girl, or other characters. And making its viewers laugh all through it.
In today’s day and age, we have an overkill of information from all quarters, and people have hundreds of sites to choose from. Yet one can get addicted to Musaid. For those who know Kashmiri, his comedies define brilliance. Musaid has a large fan base among non-Kashmiris too, who enjoy the videos that he posts in Urdu.
So it is that Musaib has 1.03 lakh followers on YouTube, 1.17 lakh followers on Facebook, and 62,000 followers on Instagram.
The Phone Call That Showed Him The WayMusaib Bashir was born in Srinagar downtown and brought up in Bemina, an uptown area of Srinagar. He studied at Caset School in Karan Nagar and later at Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School, Srinagar. Musaib did graduation from Gandhi College, Srinagar, and Masters in Commerce from Indira Gandhi National Open University.
Musaib hails from a business family and is a businessman himself. What defines him, though, is his brilliant comedy. He recalls that initially, his father did not approve of his comic videos and told him to leave the house. Musaib had to stay at his nanihaal for a year. Musaib felt depressed that his family had debarred him from making the funny videos that he loved. He also faced negative feedback from some Netizens and felt dejected.
A phone call resolved his dilemma. Musaib recalls that a young woman called him. “She was crying and thanking me. She said that her husband has cancer and is in deep pain. But he always feels thrilled to watch the videos posted by me. Her husband waits for my new videos, she said. Her call brought tears to my eyes and removed all my doubts. I thought that if I can bring smiles to the face of a suffering man, I must continue what I am doing. I must make people smile and laugh.”It is said that a person who does not smile must not open a shop. Musaib is gifted with comic skills. One can see why he has a huge following on social media. Earlier, Musaib released one or two videos in a month. Now his output is as high as eight to ten videos in a month.
Love for Kashmiri
Musaib is pained to see that many educated Kashmiris feel embarrassed to speak in their mother tongue. This made him decide that he would release the bulk of his videos in Kashmiri to show his pride in his mother tongue.
Musaib’s prank videos are hugely popular and are shot at diverse locations like busy roads, public places, shopping malls etc. He feels proud when people recognize him and ask for his autograph or selfies with him.
Kashmir Need Social Platforms For Youth
Musaib makes comic videos on social issues like drug abuse etc. to focus attention on these ills. “Kashmir lacks platforms for artists. Budding artists find it difficult to express themselves. I hope that the government shall provide such a platform to the youth,” he says. “Kashmiri youth must have strong support platforms so that they are not misled,” he believes. Musaib advises parents to help their children in achieving their dreams. “Do not push children into careers for which they have no interest,” he advises. He advises children and youth to pursue careers that shall give them professional satisfaction so that they work with zeal. “Do not indulge in anti-social and anti-national activities. They will ruin your life and career,” advises the popular comedian
