Watch viral video: Actor travels by boat in Mumbai rain; social media reacts, ‘BMC is the richest civic body…’
Actor Ayyaz Ahmed's humorous viral video of him rowing an inflatable boat in Mumbai's flooding captivated social media. The viral video comes amid the crisis around the Mumbai rain and subsequent waterlogging.
Actor Ayyaz Ahmed has become the unlikely face of Mumbai's annual monsoon chaos. His Instagram video, showing him rowing an inflatable boat through a flooded street, quickly went viral. And, social media users have reacted generously.
The viral video has garnered over 4.5 lakh views so far. Captioned "Mumbaikar in Every Monsoon", the clip perfectly captured the city's recurring waterlogging struggle.
Ahmed rowed his orange Explorer 200 inflatable boat through severely flooded streets. He casually held an umbrella while navigating the waterlogged roads of Veera Desai Road.
He captioned the post with characteristic humour, noting he was glad he had brought an umbrella. The video features a popular Instagram audio, "Water too much".
The response from fellow celebrities was immediate and overwhelmingly amused. Actor Sidharth Gupta responded with laughing emojis while Charlie Chauhan did the same.
One user commented, “We live for your monsoon content." One user jokingly called the boat Mumbai's "new rickshaw". Another playfully welcomed Ahmed to Digha beach. Several users simply celebrated the boat itself, calling it "acchi hai".
“Introducing new rickshaw in Mumbai,” wrote one user.
The post drew 13,500 likes and 489 comments within 20 hours. One user wrote, “This is so true. I mean, BMC is the richest civic body, and every year this story. Some areas are fixed like Andheri Subway, Marol, Malad SV road, etc.”
Ahmed's video subsequently appeared on a national Hindi news channel. The broadcast showed his inflatable boat footage during coverage of Mumbai's worsening flooding.
The anchor, in knee-deep water, asks Ayyaz, “Do you plan to travel like this all the time?”
“The cars are breaking down. Electricity is getting more costly. So…” the actor replied.
Mumbai Waterlogging: Crisis Behind Laughter
While Ahmed's video brought humour, the situation in Mumbai has been genuinely difficult. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Mumbai and the Raigad district.
Parts of the city recorded between 200mm and 300mm of rainfall in a short span. Drainage systems across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have been severely strained.
The Andheri Subway was completely shut down after water levels reached 3 to 4 feet. The Western Express Highway and the Sion-Panvel Highway both experienced significant traffic disruptions.
Local trains on the Central and the Western lines faced delays of 10 to 15 minutes. At least five Mumbai-bound flights were diverted to Surat, Ahmedabad and Goa due to poor visibility.
Who is Ayyaz Ahmed?
Ayyaz Ahmed, also spelt Ayaz Ahmed, gained popularity when he participated in MTV Roadies 5 in 2007-08. That year, Ashutosh Kaushik won the reality show.
Thereafter, he became a popular face on Indian television. He played lead roles in Hindi TV serials, including Ishaan: Sapno Ko Awaaz De, I Luv My India, Do Dil Ek Jaan, Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan and Santoshi Maa. He also acted in Lips Don't Lie, a web series on Gemplex OTT platform.
On Instagram, Ayyaz often posts funny videos that become viral. He has 2.29 lakh followers on the platform. His social media motto is: “Making the internet weirder, one post at a time”.