Iran mocks UN as powerless with ‘Sholay’ Thakur ‘UN in reality’ meme

Iran has used a popular Bollywood character to take a swipe at the United Nations, with the Iranian Embassy in India sharing a meme comparing the world body to two very different fictional characters.

The embassy posted the meme on X, juxtaposing Marvel superhero Doctor Strange with Thakur Baldev Singh, the iconic character played by Sanjeev Kumar in the 1975 Bollywood classic Sholay.

The first image shows Doctor Strange with multiple arms and is labelled “UN according to school books”, portraying the world body as powerful and capable of acting on several fronts.

The second image features Thakur, whose hands were amputated by the villain Gabbar Singh in Sholay. It is labelled “UN in reality”, implying that the organisation cannot act decisively.

The post came shortly after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York. Iranian officials have criticised what Tehran describes as the UN’s inadequate response to alleged violations of the UN Charter by the United States and Israel.

Iran’s Bollywood and Telugu cinema posts

The Thakur meme follows a series of recent posts by Iraniandiplomatic missions using Indian cinema to make political points.

Earlier, the Iranian Embassy in Zimbabwe shared a 58-second clip from Telugu star Nandamuri Balakrishna’s 2023 film Bhagavanth Kesari after US President Donald Trump’s remarks about Iran at the United Nations General Assembly.

The embassy wrote that Trump was talking about “annihilating Iran” but knew the country was “not defenceless”. It added a reference to Bollywood and Hollywood, although Bhagavanth Kesari is a Telugu-language film.

Days later, Iran’s Consulate in Hyderabad turned to Prabhas’ Baahubali: The Beginning. It shared a battle sequence featuring Amarendra Baahubali alongside a reference to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s UN speech.

The post quoted Pezeshkian as saying Iran would “never bow our heads or bend the knee” and compared the country’s stance with Baahubali standing against the Kalakeya army.

The latest Sholay meme continues that unusual diplomatic use of Indian popular culture, this time targeting the United Nations rather than the US president.

Earlier, Iran also used an Akshay Kumar meme to mock Trump. The post featured the actor in a scene from the 2006 Bollywood comedy Deewane Huye Paagal and referred to an underwater incident, rising oil prices and upcoming US elections.

“Lost an underwater. Oil is nearing $100. Elections are coming. How’s it going, Trump?” the embassy wrote.

The sequence of posts highlights how Iranian diplomatic accounts have increasingly used memes, movie clips and other elements of popular culture to communicate political messages on social media.