The two owners of restaurant Cannoli by Cafe Soul in Islamabad, who have been widely slammed for mocking their employee’s English proficiency, were put to shame in a parody video posted by comedian and rapper Ali Gul Pir.
The video has been made in collaboration with British-Pakistani television journalist George Fulton, who is portrayed as the employee at the receiving end of ridicule by his employers.
Moreover, Pir plays the role of one of the owners “Kaisa” Diya, while aspiring stand-up comedian Akbar Chaudhry poses as the other owner, Uzma.
The trio play out the scene from the original video that transpired at the eatery. However this time, the “employee” has flawless English language skills and it is only the owners’ condescending behaviour that falls under the spotlight.
Meanwhile, amid all the backlash that the video has garnered, an Urdu mushaira was announced yesterday by two content writers in Islamabad to protest against the owners.
Fittingly, the event will be held outside the place where the unfortunate incident took place — the restaurant Cannoli by Cafe Soul in Islamabad today evening.
What started it all was a video, that went viral on Thursday, showing the owners of the restaurant mocking the restaurant manager for his English language skills. The video was denounced by nearly all who viewed it.
A statement was released by the owners in response, saying they are “saddened” over the reaction to the video.
“We are saddened and appalled by the reaction of the people, how they have misconstrued our banter with a team member,” read a statement by the owners on Instagram.
#BoycottCannoli: Islamabad restaurant owners say they are ‘appalled’ at reaction over video
The owners characterised their talk in the video as “gup shup” between a team, saying it was never intended to come across as “hurtful”.
Above all, they further added that justification of their kindness as employee is “not required” and they do not need to defend themselves.
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