An Irish travel vlogger has made and unmade online after posting a video where he literally and figuratively recreated the legendary ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ scene, not in a film studio but on top of a moving train in Bangladesh.
The vlogger’s controversial post, dubbed Travel Man, documented his hair-raising ride and brought to life a fantasy of the famous 1998 Bollywood movie that originally had Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora dancing on the top of a train. In his social media posts, which went viral in an instant, the travel blogger confessed the adventure was “kind of scary” but as if to soften the scare-factor he added “SRK fans will understand” with a playful wink.
The video captures him in the dangerous position of hanging on to the roof of a train car full of passengers as it rolls through the countryside. He certainly is delighted to be there but the trick has also set off a major discussion on the topic of safety as well as the issue of local habits being used in a misleading manner for getting content.
Dhaka Railway Daring: The Vlogger’s Viral Stunt
The vlogger’s video is a visual praise that is attractive but at the same time, maybe too dangerous, to one of the most famous songs in Indian cinema history.
The railway system in Bangladesh is an important means of getting from one place to another but at the same time, it is very often overcrowded, and passengers sometimes have to take the roof of the train as their place this, indeed, alarming practice is easy to overlook but it is very dangerous. The vlogger’s decision to engage in such dangerous behavior, nonetheless, has led to a cooling of his image as it is considered to be a beautification of a necessity and poor infrastructure now, not just a travel thrill.
When he casually mentioned it as ‘kind of scary’ that brought to light the very danger that threatens the lives of all the locals who rely on this transport. The visuals are indeed like a movie—the grand views of the countryside of Bangladesh are simply amazing but the storyline is made complex by the inherent risk of being in a railway carriage without official permission.
Bangladesh Backlash: Safety and Content Creation
To begin with, the video was a big hit among the worldwide fans of Bollywood, but the discussions around it, especially the ones coming from Bangladesh, were mostly about safety and the morality of international travel content creators. The local authorities keep on issuing warnings for riding on the train roofs because of the extremely dangerous accidents, which could lead to electric shocks from overhead wires or getting the person who is riding on the roof bumped off by a bridge.
Tourists taking part in such activities, which are unlawful and perilous, are criticized for being bad examples and for not considering very real dangers that ordinary people living there encounter every day.
On the one hand, there is a luxury tourist trying to get a “Chaiyya Chaiyya” photo with the on-going infrastructural problems in the South Asian countries depicted in the background, and on the other hand, there is a privileged traveler experiencing the moment with the locals That’s why the online debate has become intricate with the discussion of responsible tourism and the prohibitions of capturing viral content.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
