‘Give me rice’: Bappi Lahiri’s ‘Jimmy Jimmy’ song has become a lockdown anthem in China

As China continues to impose a strict Covid lockdown regime, with millions being affected, residents have turned to Bollywood to launch a unique protest on social media. They are making videos of themselves lip-syncing to the Hindi sing “Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja”, composed by Bappi Lahiri for the film Disco Dancer, to indicate that there is a lack of food because of the lockdown.

The videos feature people dancing in their kitchens with empty rice-cookers, with the words of the Hindi song interpreted as ‘Jie Mi Jie Mi’, which in Mandarin means ‘give me rice’, according to news agency PTI. The videos have been posted on a Chinese platform named Douyin.