Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Actor Ranveer Singh appeals to voters to choose Congress for the Lok Sabha elections, criticises PM Narendra Modi.
Fact
The actor did not make any such statement; the original video was of him praising the PM, which was edited with a different audio.
Several social media users are circulating a 42-second video, purportedly showing actor Ranveer Singh endorsing the Congress and mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the first phase of which will be held in 102 parliamentary constituencies across 21 states on April 19 (Friday).
“Modiji’s purpose was for us to celebrate our miserable life, our unemployment, our inflation because our India is now moving towards the era of injustice at high speed. But we should never forget to demand our development, our justice. So, think and vote for those who care about the country,” Ranveer appears to say in Hindi, with the video ending on an appeal to “Vote for Nyay, Vote For Congress”.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Ranveer Singh endorse Congress”, which did not lead us to any credible news reports of such an incident, raising our doubts.
We also noticed that Singh’s lip movements seemed unnatural and did not completely match with the audio, which also did not have a natural flow of speech, raising our doubts on whether the video was digitally manipulated.
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Youtube video, uploaded by ANI News on April 14, 2024, headlined, “Ranveer Singh, Kriti Sanon visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple; laud PM’s ‘Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi’ vision”.
“…Both the actors also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi’ campaign which focuses on the infusion of modernity and development with the age-old Indian tradition, heritage and culture,” read the description of the video.
The viral excerpt can be seen from the 02:18 mark, up to 02:52, where you can hear that he is praising PM Narendra Modi. “Modiji’s purpose was to celebrate our rich cultural heritage, our history, our legacy. We are moving towards modernity at such a speed, but we need our roots and our cultural heritage should never be forgotten. Hence, development and heritage,” Singh is heard saying in the original video, which clearly contradicts the audio heard in the viral clip. At no point in the video did Singh appeal for voters to choose Congress. Similar reports on Ranveer Singh’s visit to Kashi and praise of PM Narendra Modi can be seen here, here and here, which further confirms that the viral video was digitally altered.
Newschecker had also recently debunked a viral video, where the audio of an old video promo of a TV show, Satyamev Jayate, has been digitally edited to falsely show Aamir Khan supporting the Congress.
Also Read: Viral Video Of Aamir Khan Endorsing Congress Is Manipulated Using AI
Conclusion
Viral video claimed to show actor Ranveer Singh mocking PM Narendra Modi and endorsing Congress found to be edited.
Result: Altered Media
Sources
Youtube video, ANI, April 14, 2024
Youtube video, NDTV, April 16, 2024
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
