HYDERABAD: A video that shows a posse of spiffy policewomen pulling off some mean moves in front of well-known city landmarks has been making rounds on the internet since the last two days. The women in uniform are seen grooving to popular Telugu band, Chowraasta’s, viral song Cheyi Cheyi Kalapaku Ra, which raises awareness on the safety measures that can prevent the spread of Covid-19. The two-minute video was released by city police commissioner Anjani Kumar.
The description below the video reads: “Women police are constantly on duty at this time. The woman constable’s role in isolation and quarantine are indispensable. A few police stations have only one woman official, while everyone else is on duty. Hence, we are releasing a two-minute video for emotional bonding in this crisis situation.” Speaking to Express, Shikha Goel, additional commissioner of police (Crimes & SIT), said: “As far as Covid is concerned, women police officers have been performing all duties shoulder to shoulder with men.
Whether it is checkposts or quarantine centres, they are involved everywhere, and this video reflects that.” The police felicitated Chowraasta band members for the song. Talking about the making of the song, Srinivas, one of the band members, said: “The song was written, composed and sung by our vocalist Ram. When the lockdown was announced, Ram was irritated that people were not following the rules of physical distancing and hygiene.
He wanted to create awareness among the people, and wrote and composed the song overnight. Right from the inception of the song to the final product, we released the song within 14-15 hours. The audio of the song went viral even before the video was launched. The song requests people to wash hands and take other safety measures, and emphasises that we can fight this pandemic together. We are very happy to be associated with Hyderabad police as they will help convey this message to a larger audience.” The video has been directed by Arun Vikkirala and choreographed by Vishwa Raghu.
— Kakoli Mukherjee kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com @KakoliMukherje2