Amna Ilyas' new video drives home the point that we should respect our traffic police

Sometimes comedy gets the point across much better than a stern lecture — and actor Amna Ilyas uses both depending on the topic at hand.

Opting for the former this time, the Baaji star shared a video on her Instagram to highlight a rampant problem in our society: name-dropping. Ilyas called attention to one of the most common instances where Pakistanis like to use names to get out of trouble — when stopped by the traffic police.

The video shows the celebrity being stopped by a traffic policeman, played by actor Taha Humayun, who in a no-nonsense tone tells her: "You have broken the signal, there will be a challan, give me your licence."

As she starts to use the classic "My name is ..." get-out-of-jail-free card, Ilyas is cut off by the policeman who seems to have no time for the excuses coming his way and asks for the licence again, visibly irritated.

Ilyas has dedicated the short video to "Bharam Culture", saying: "I don’t know about the other cities out there, but I’d venture to say they hold a lot more respect for their traffic police than we do."

"This absurd culture of exercising 'power' to get away from taking responsibility is out of fashion so it ain’t cool no more!" she added.

While in reality we know such a situation wouldn't be resolved with the policeman simply repeating himself, we're hoping that the point Ilyas is trying to make will get across to people: stop dropping names and making excuses when you break the law and show some respect to those trying to enforce that law.

Ilyas often uses her social media platforms to highlight issues she feels strongly about; last year, she asked her fellow celebrities to stop promoting fairness creams.

"Our influence as public figures is meant to make others feel beautiful, not less beautiful. Shame on everyone who still subscribes to this way of thinking!" she had tweeted with the hashtag #endcolourism.