Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Social media platforms were flooded with prayers and wishes for Tamil superstar Vikram after reports of his hospitalisation surfaced last week. ‘Chiyaan’ as he is popularly called by his fans, Vikram was admitted to hospital after experiencing discomfort in his chest and was discharged soon. Following this, several social media users as well as media outlets shared a video of the actor thanking his fans for their love and support, claiming it to be a recent post. Newschecker found the claim to be untrue.
Some Twitter users posted the video while others shared a link to a YouTube video claiming to show Vikram’s video message to his fans after “returning home from the hospital.”
You can find archived versions of such tweets here and here.
The video is going viral on YouTube as well. Verified YouTube channel of Thamizh Padam also shared the video with the caption “Chiyaan Vikram Returns Home From Hospital | Vikram Thanks Fans.”
TV9 Entertainment also shared the video on their YouTube channel with the caption “Vikram reacts on heart attack rumors, releases video – TV9”
Who Is Vikram?
Vikram is a well known actor who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He made his debut in the 1990 film En Kadhal Kanmani. As per the IMDb, after the critical and commercial success of Sethu (1999) he has been part of numerous other commercially successful films and has earned major critical acclaim for many of his performances. During his years in the Indian film industry, he has won five Filmfare Awards as well as one National Film Award for Best Actor.
Did Vikram Suffer Heart Attack?
Vikram was admitted to Kauvery hospital in Chennai after he complained of mild discomfort in his chest on July 8. Soon after, several media outlets and social media users claimed that the actor had suffered a heart attack. His son Dhruv took to Instagram to clarify that Vikram did not suffer from a heart attack. “Dear fans and well-wishers, Appa (father) had mild chest discomfort and is being treated for the same. He did not have a heart attack as reports falsely claim. We are pained to hear rumours to this effect,” Dhruv wrote in an Instagram status.
His manager, Suryanarayanan M also clarified in a tweet that the actor “DID NOT have a heart attack as reports falsely claim.”
In addition, Kauvery hospital, in a statement, also clarified that the actor “did not have cardiac arrest” but chest discomfort.
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Fact Check/Verification
We scanned through the comment sections of the posts associated with the viral video and found a reply by user @RishivardhanK saying, “This is a old video for birthday Wishes (sic)” to a tweet by user @mathanotnmcvf.
Taking a clue, we conducted a keyword search for “Chiyaan Vikram thanks fans birthday” on YouTube led us to a video uploaded by verified channel Reel Petti on April 18, 2017 with the caption ‘Chiyaan Vikram thanks his fans on his birthday.’
A couple of seconds into the video, we found keyframes from the viral clip claiming to show Vikram thanking his fans post his hospital discharge. In the video, the actor can be heard saying “Hi, people. Oh my god! So much love, so much affection….. This is my best birthday yet and thanks for everything …..”
Notably, the portion where the actor said “..best birthday yet” has been edited out from the viral video.
Further, we found the video was also uploaded on YouTube by verified channel IndiaGlitz Tamil on April 18, 2017 with the title ‘Vikram overwhelmed : thanks fans for love and support | Birthday celebration, Sketch Movie.’ The description of the video read, “Chiyaan Vikram’s Dhruva Natchathiram second teaser was released on the eve of Vikram’s birthday (17th April). The actor, who was overwhelmed by the response by his fans took to Instagram to thank his fans for their love. Further shared a video thanking his fans for their love and support.”
We scanned through the Instagram account of the actor and found that the same video was uploaded on the platform on April 17, 2017.
Conclusion
Viral posts claiming to show actor Vikram thanking his fans after getting discharged from the hospital are false. The video is from 2017 and the actor is seen thanking his fans and well wishers after his birthday.
Result: False
Sources
YouTube Video By Reel Petti, Dated April 18, 2017
YouTube Video By IndiaGlitz Tamil, Dated April 18, 2017
Instagram Post by @the_real_chiyaan, Dated April 17, 2017
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
