The Maasai TikTokers are leaving Bollywood fans speechless
Tanzania’s newest TikTok sensations, siblings Kili or Neema Paul, prepare to record their latest video while dressed in traditional Maasai attire and surrounded by cows.
A smartphone is mounted on a tripod a few metres from their home in Mindu Tulieni, a small village in the Pwani region’s east. The nearest town, Lugoba, is an hour’s walk away. So Kili travels to the city every day to charge his phone because there is no electricity in the village. Kili, 26, stands just back his 23-year-old sister Neema, positioned in front of the camera.
When the music starts, the siblings take turns lip-syncing in Hindi and dancing to some of Bollywood’s most popular songs. Their lip-syncing videos have become a evolving sensation in India over the last few months.
Kili and Neema never imagined their videos, broadcast from Mindu Tulieni. Where the majority of the villagers do not own smartphones, would reach millions of people in India and around the world.
“At first, it was now about having fun; we had no idea we’d go viral,” Kili says. “I was astounded when I saw the number of views and responses from people in India.” “It blew my mind.”
The inspiration for their videos stems from Kili’s love of Bollywood films. Which he first saw while away at school in the capital, Dodoma.
Even though he and his sister do not speak Hindi, they have taught themselves to sing in it.
“I’ve been watching Bollywood films in Tanzanian cinemas since I was a child. And I’ve fallen in love with the movies and the songs.” “It only takes me a few days to learn the lyrics and practise the song. Then, I research what the lyrics mean in English so that I can include the appropriate expressions “he claims.
“I connect with the music even before I understand what the song is about.” Initially performing the videos alone, Kili enlisted the help of his sister Neema, who shares his love of Bollywood, to join him in the videos.
“When my brother asked me to do the videos with him, I initially refused because I was too shy to be in front of the camera,” Neema explains. “But after a while, I grew accustomed to it. It’s strange what’s happened; we never imagined a day like this would come.”
