Three Mumbaikars 'cast' top traffic hooligans as 'stars' of their series

Aditya Singh and Krishan Khatra questions a truck driver who left his vehicle parked on Link Road in Goregaon this morning PicBipin KokateYou can run but you cant hide from Mamoo Patrol Three friends from Andheri have banded together to nail traffic offenders and ldquoconfront the lack of civic senserdquo on the roads through nonconfrontational candid videos The videos shot for web series Mamoo Patrol are a cheeky hat tip to our notorious propensity for breaching traffic norms and tolerance of such flippant offendersThe group which has uploaded two videos on its YouTube channel and Facebook page since September 29 both titled Slang has been inspired by Russian nonprofit organisation StopHam Stop a Douchebag which opposes traffic rule violations and arrogance on the roadA young man justifies taking the wrong lane to park his bikeldquoItrsquos simple We want to make traffic offenders realise that their actions lead to traffic jams and inconvenience others Just like any other motorist or pedestrian we too have suffered at the hands of such reckless offendersrdquo says Aditya Singh 31 group member and filmmaker who had worked in oil rigs prior to launching this initiativeSingh is accompanied by friends Krishan Khatra 31 a theatre artiste and model and writer Anvita Sudarshan who handles the projectrsquos social media contentAn autorickshaw driver cries ldquoBut I only went for lunchrdquo on being questioned why he had parked on the roadldquoWe took almost a month to produce the content and get it ready for social network platformsrdquo says SudarshanThe cautious approach paid off The videos have in total racked up 12225 views mdash and counting mdash in the two weeks since the launch and are being rapidly lsquosharedrsquo Target areasArmed with a basic videocam Singh and Khatra hit the streets of Malad West Goregaon West Oshiwara Andheri West and Bandra West where they assumed traffic would be a mess regardless of the time of the day in the first week of SeptemberDespite being prepared for the worst offendersrsquo attitude mdash flippant at most times and menacing sometimes mdash rankled themA tempo driver takes a break in the middle of the road Blustering blitheringThe first video 938 minutes long and uploaded on September 29 features barely contrite bikers autorickshaw drivers and fourwheeler drivers casually breaking the rules and offering frivolous reasons to justify their actions Therersquos a biker whorsquos stopped while going the wrong way He starts arguing with Singh and Khatra who remain behind the camera saying the route was shorter and that he would continue to break the rules in future tooAnother section of the video shows an autorickshaw driver leaving his vehicle parked in the middle of the road On being questioned about it all he does is smile sheepishly and say he had stopped by for lunch Coincidentally the same driver is caught again later for double parking The errant driverrsquos grouse at this point that Singh and Khatra are badgering him and no allowing him to have his lunch in peaceThe second video which runs into 627 minutes and uploaded on October 9 nails school bus drivers who repeatedly honk even when on a jampacked roadldquoWhat are we teaching schoolchildren Children learn itrsquos okay to break traffic rules if they see their bus drivers or parents doing the samerdquo says Khatra Bruised egosBoth Singh and Khatra have been cautious not to sound even remotely intimidating or use abusivederogatory language if even the offenders turns aggressive ldquoThere were times when a person became violent grabbed the camera and caught us by the collar But we refrain from doing the same Else the purpose of the project would be ruinedrdquo explains SinghThe group says most people caught on camera felt challenged and responded with ldquoarrogancerdquo despite knowing fully well that they were in the wrongThe friends have 2530 hours of footage with him and are splitting it into shorter videos with English subtitlesThe third video is expected go online soon postproduction work is nearly over Plans for a fourth are on the anvilThe group is hoping that the web series would attract volunteers to shoot more such videos ldquoWe are not monetising the project in any way and there is no advertisement The aim is simply make people aware of their offences and change their waysrdquo says SudarshanThe group is also seeking the support of government bodies like the traffic police and regional transport offices to strengthen its mission with more stringent penalties The fine for most minor traffic offences is a mere R100The three friends who made Mumbai their home nearly a decade ago point out that they donrsquot want to dubbed vigilantes but instead show Mumbaikars that toeing the line individually can have a huge impact on the bigger picture27LNo of vehicles on Mumabirsquos roads15LNo of twowheelers 1800Mumbairsquos road network in sqkm