Freeze the moment

Each one of us wants to ‘capture a moment’ but it generally never happens. However, with the latest trend in town, certain offices, groups and even locations in the city are ‘freezing’ to the ‘Mannequin Challenge’.

It’s a Western trend and many celebrities like Kelly Rowland, Britney Spears and even Hillary Clinton participated in the challenge to share a message. The idea demands the actors to hold their poses while the camera person shoots the frozen moment. One can recreate the humour moments with props and action, all by holding their breath for as long as the video is being shot. The classic ‘Black Beatles’ song by rap duo Rae Sremmurd is the music of choice; however, there are a few who are using their own selection of music for the video.

Pankti Desai, an employee at Deloitte, tried the challenge with her team recently. She says, “There were about 10 to 15 of us in office that day and we decided to get a little crazy. My friend had come to visit and he shot the video. We had people showcasing their fitness skills, pulling each other’s hair, taking selfies and even a foodie enjoying noodles. The most difficult part was holding our laughter during the shoot.”

Bringing in a light moment in one’s daily life is just what this challenge hopes to do. The team of Masterchef India also attempted this challenge. Ashwin Iyer, a participant, says, “It was during a shoot for one of the episodes and we were all dressed in our best outfits. We decided to undertake this challenge as we thought it would be a good change from our regular stressful routine. The video was about two minutes long and we had to stand in our particular positions without moving a muscle.” Being tagged as the stylish one on the team, Ashwin froze as if he was walking on the ramp. He says there were a few who struck the Matrix pose as well.

The team at ‘Pink Lemonade’ also took part in the challenge by adding their own twist to it. Priya, the conceptualiser of the challenge, says, “We wanted to capture our daily work and we have people who are brainstorming, working and coming up with ideas. But all of us switched our roles to keep it interesting. We also played our own songs rather than following the one trending.” The teams hope to make another video soon with the other members in the office. Priya says, “We want something a bit more intricate and action-oriented. It’ll be a longer and tedious video, but it’ll be one fun project to do!”

While many have attempted this challenge to showcase a moment, the team at ‘Netbramha’ decided to use the challenge to wish their boss Aashish Solanki on his birthday. “My team was absolutely fantastic with this challenge. They took advantage of the time that I wasn’t in office and put this together. It had all the quirky moments we have at work and it was a wonderful birthday present,” says Aashish.

With the present situation of demonetisation, it is natural to feel the tension around oneself. But RJ Sriram Sullia and the team of Fever 104 FM decided to make the mood lighter for those standing in the ATM queues.

Sriram says, “We weren’t sure as to how the video would turn out because it is not shot indoors. We just went to an ATM in Indiranagar and asked the people to pose as they are in the queue and stand still for the video. Though a few had questions, they were very eager to be a part of it.” The video comprised frustrated people, a few doing their makeup, some laughing and also sharing their excitement on having withdrawn money.

While many are expecting the winters to freeze us, seems like the ‘Mannequin Challenge’ has already done its job.