Real Chand Nawab puts his viral ‘Karachi Se’ video up for auction, check bid price

Real Chand Nawab has put his viral 'Karachi Se' video up for sale as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) on the Foundation app.

Screen grab from the viral video

New Delhi: Almost every Bollywood lover has watched the Bajrangi Bhaijaan and remember its scenes not only because of Salman Khan but also for the iconic acting of Nawazuddin Siddiqui. One of the most loved scenes of the movie is where 'Chand Nawab', the character of a reporter played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, is continuously interrupted by passengers while he was reporting from the Karachi railway station. But little did people know that Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character is actually inspired by a real Pakistani TV journalist Chand Nawab who got famous in 2008 when he uploaded his BTS of reporting.

The Real Chand Nawab got famous after Bajrangi Bhaijan came on the silver screen and is now making headlines again.

He has put his viral “Karachi Se” video up for sale as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) on the Foundation app, a platform that helps digital creators earn money through their digital artwork. The minimum bid price for purchasing Chand Nawab’s viral video is 20 Ethereum tokens or $63,604.20 (around Rs 46,74,700).

In the auction platform, Nawab wrote, “I’m Chand Nawab, a journalist and reporter by profession. In 2008, a video of me surfaced on YouTube in which I fumbled while reporting Eid Festival frenzy at a Railway station. While reporting, I was contently interrupted by people, my fumbling and constant irritation made this video viral getting millions of views on YouTube and Facebook.” 

“My popularity again surged in 2016 when my viral video inspired Indian filmmaker Kabir Khan to create Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character in his 2015 blockbuster Bajrangi Bhaijaan. I got fame overnight getting lot of love and appreciation from India and Pakistan especially from Bollywood star Salman Khan and other cast of Bajrangi Bhaijaan,” the Pakistani journalist added.

Shot and uploaded in 2008, at the time, Nawab was with a Karachi-based news channel and was seen trying to report the Eid festival frenzy on a stairway of a railway station in Karachi. He was repeatedly interrupted by passengers which irritated him and made him fumble. His fumbled reporting and facial expressions made the video go crazily viral.