Old film clip shared online with false claim it shows 'new Shah Rukh Khan film that insults Hindus'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on December 29, 2022 at 11:19
3 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

An old clip has been viewed tens of thousands of times online with the false claim it shows a scene from an upcoming Indian film where Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan supposedly insults the colour saffron that holds religious importance for Hindus. The false posts surfaced as leaders from the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have called for a boycott of Khan's upcoming film "Pathaan" over alleged anti-Hindu content. The clip in the posts, however, shows a scene from Khan's film "Don 2" released in 2011.

"Watch this scene from the film Pathaan," says one Facebook post that shared the clip on December 14.

The clip -- viewed over 170,000 times with the false claim -- shows a woman played by Indian actress Priyanka Chopra asking Khan's character how he feels while in jail.

Khan's character replies: "Yea, it's ok. However, I am not happy with the colour of this uniform."

"Khan doesn't love the saffron colour and he wants viewers from the Hindu community, who revere the colour, to watch his movie," the false post further says in part.

It then shares a hashtag calling for a boycott of "Pathaan" which is set for release in early 2023.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post taken on December 14, 2022

Right-wing groups in India and leaders from the BJP have alleged "Pathaan" of anti-Hindu content and have been calling for its boycott.

The film's star Shah Rukh Khan, a high-profile Bollywood actor who identifies as Muslim in Hindu-majority India, has been frequently targeted by misinformation here, here and here.

The same clip was also shared with a similar claim on Facebook here, here and on Twitter here.

Some social media users appeared to believe the clip is from "Pathaan".

"Seeing this scene, every Hindu should completely boycott the Pathaan film," one said.

Another wrote: "See how the religious colour of Hindus is being insulted in Pathaan film, the agenda of this film is only to insult the religious sentiments of Hindus."

However, the clip is not from "Pathaan" but from another of Khan's films called "Don 2".

Old film

A keyword search on Google found a longer version of the clip uploaded to YouTube on February 12, 2021 by an Indian production company Excel Movies.

The longer video's caption identifies the clip as scenes from "Don 2" that was released in 2011

AFP has not found reports indicating "Don 2" faced allegations of anti-Hindu content at the time of its release.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the false posts (left) and the video shared on YouTube by Excel Movies (right):

Screenshot comparison

Stills from the "Don 2" -- which correspond to the scene in the clip -- have also been featured in this report by the magazine India Today on December 6, 2011.

Moreover, actress Priyanka Chopra, who is seen in the clip shared with the false claim, is not among the stars appearing in "Pathaan".

"Don 2" is part of a franchise starring Khan. The series is about a fictional Indian underworld boss who goes only by the name Don.

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