Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan has declared his support for Congress and Kamal Nath in the forthcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.
Fact
The viral video is an advertisement by Disney Hotstar, which has been altered and shared on social media with false claim.
Well-known Hindi film actor Kartik Aaryan, famous for his roles in movies like “Freddie,” “Bhul Bhulaia 2,” “Shehzada,” found his name dragged into the conversation on the upcoming MP polls, with a video featuring the actor showing him allegedly campaigning for the Congress party in the state. The assembly election campaigns are in full swing in five states across the country, namely Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Among these, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, with 230 seats up for contention, are scheduled to be held in a single phase on November 17.
Posts claiming that Aaryan endorsed Congress party for the upcoming polls were widely shareed on social media platform X (formerly twitter) and one such post can be seen here. It states “Finally Bollywood has woken up towards the Indian National Congress. Bollywood heartthrob Kartik Aryan has extended his support for Indian National Congress in #MadhyaPradeshElections2023. Yet another great campaign from @INCMP”
The video features a billboard displaying Congress leader Kamal Nath alongside the election pledge of providing two lakh government jobs and a free loan of ₹50,000. It also includes a woman emphasizing other campaign promises for women, such as free bus services, a monthly assistance of ₹1,500, and LPG cylinders at ₹500. The voiceover in the video shows Kartik Aaryan supporting the party.
Other users also shared the same post on X with similar claim which can be seen here, here, here and here.
Fact Check / Verification
In order to ascertain the fact of the viral video, we conducted a Google Keyword search with “Kartik Aaryan Campaigning For Congress” and “Kartik Aaryan in Madhya Pradesh Congress”.
During this process, we came across several reports related to the viral video. One such report by NDTV published on October 31, 2023, revealed that the viral video allegedly showing Aaryan campaigning for Congress in Madhya Pradesh was morphed.
According to the report, Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan also responded to the manipulated video depicting him endorsing the Congress party calling it “fake.” The original video, shared by the OTT platform Disney+Hotstar last month during the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup, underwent editing and dubbing the article revealed.
The report also carried a tweet by Aaryan clarifying the same.
Other media outlets such as The Times of India, EditorJi, NDTV, Times Now also published this news.
Following this, we conducted a Google reverse image search with the keyframes from the viral video, which led us to the original video posted by Disney+Hotstar on YouTube. The video was uploaded on September 23, 2023.
Original Video
Morphed Video
Conclusion
The viral video of Kartik Aaryan endorsing the Congress for the upcoming MP polls is actually a Disney Hotstar advertisement that has been edited. The actor has made no such endorsement.
Result: Altered Media
Our Sources:
1. Video published by Disney+Hotstar in Youtube, dated September 23, 2023
2. Report published by NDTV, dated October, 31, 2023
3. X post by Kartik Aaryan, dated October, 31, 2023
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
