Ranveer Singh's deepfake video attacking the government goes viral

Social media users are spreading a rumoured video purporting to show Bollywood star Ranveer Singh criticising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and appearing to support the Indian National Congress (INC). Ranveer Singh complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the original video. An AI voice clone was deployed in the video to give the impression that he was endorsing the Congress.

In the viral clip, the actor is seen talking to a journalist from news agency ANI and saying in Hindi, “This is Modi ji's purpose. His aim was to celebrate our sad lives, our fears, our unemployment, and inflation. India is heading towards an era of injustice at a rapid pace, but we should never forget to ask for our development and our justice. That’s why think before you cast your vote.” The video ends with a promotional message stating, “Vote for justice, vote for Congress.” Several social media users shared the video, encouraging people to vote for Congress.

Nevertheless, it has been discovered that the actor's clip was altered to include a fake audio overlay in the viral clip. Prior to the Lok Sabha elections, the actor refrained from endorsing Congress or criticising the prime minister. Remarkably, INC Spokesperson Sujata Paul also uploaded the video and claimed in the comments that it was a "deep fake video (sic)".
 

The original version of the clip was published on ANI News' YouTube channel on April 16, 2024, with the description, “Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh lauds PM Modi’s ‘Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi’ vision”.

In this slightly longer clip, the actor said, “This makes me so happy… This was Modi ji’s purpose. It was his aim to celebrate our rich cultural heritage, our history, and our legacy. Now as India is heading towards modernity at a rapid pace, we should never forget our roots and our cultural heritage.” The ANI video is 56 seconds long, and the first 36 seconds have been manipulated to create the fake election campaign clip. An extended version of the video, a 2:33-minute-long interview of Singh, was also published by ANI on X (formerly Twitter). The viral clip can be seen around 1:15 to 1:51 of the original video. The interview was shot when Singh and Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon visited Varanasi on April 16.

Singh's lip movements in the viral video are obviously not matched by the music, indicating the overlaying of an audio layer.

Aamir Khan, a Bollywood actor, was also featured in a similar edited video that went viral recently, giving the impression that Khan urged people to support the Congress party.