Indian quiz show video altered to insert question mocking ruling party politician
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on October 30, 2023 at 10:22
- 4 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India
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"In Kaun Banega Crorepati, this question was asked who is the most famous for making a false declaration? Chief Minister uncle Shivraj has defamed the name of Madhya Pradesh in the whole world," reads the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook post shared here on October 8, 2023.
The post refers to Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of central India's Madhya Pradesh state (archived link).
"Kaun Banega Crorepati" is the Indian adaptation of the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" quiz show franchise, hosted by Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan (archived links here and here).
The one-minute, five-second video shared with the post shows Bachchan telling a participant he would be given 60 seconds to answer the next question.
It cuts to the contestant's screen, which displays the question: "Which among these chief ministers is called an announcement machine owing to their false promises?"
Four politicians, Manohar Lal Khattar, Chouhan, Yogi Adityanath and Bhupendra Patel -- all chief ministers of BJP-ruled states -- are listed as possible answers (archived links here, here and here).
The video includes a voiceover that repeats the question, after which the contestant chooses "option B", Chouhan -- and Bachchan confirms this is the correct answer.
He then appears to say in Hindi: "He has been the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for 18 years. He made a lot of announcements but never worked on them. That is why he is also known by the name of 'announcement machine'."
The altered video was shared ahead of assembly elections in five Indian states throughout November (archived link).
Chouhan will run in the Madhya Pradesh state polls on November 17 (archived link).
Similar posts sharing the edited clip can be seen on Facebook here and here and on X, formerly Twitter, here.
But the clip has been digitally altered to add fabricated graphics and a fake voiceover impersonating host Bachchan, while the contestant seen in the video confirmed it was false.
Digitally altered video
A keyword search on YouTube using the contestant's name that appears in the clip, Bhupendra Choudhary, found the full episode of the show uploaded to the game show's official channel, KBC India, on January 20, 2023 (archived link).
The video is titled "Will Bhupendra regret quitting? Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 14".
The clip corresponds to the YouTube video's 18-minute, 50-second mark, when host Bachchan says: "Till now you were getting 45 seconds for answering a question. Now you will get 60 seconds. And the next question is here on your screen."
However, the question shown in the oigrinal clip reads: "Which of these movies is not about a sportsperson?"
At the 19-minute, 36-second mark of the video, Choudhary says: "The correct answer will be option B. Please lock option B."
Below is a screenshot comparison between the clip shared in the false posts (left) and the original YouTube video (right):
Choudhary told AFP on October 13: "This video has been edited in a completely wrong context and is being shared with political intentions."
He said he had been asked about a sports film and replied with the correct answer, option B.
The contestant made a similar statement in a video uploaded to his Facebook page on October 9, 2023, saying he had not been asked about the Madhya Pradesh chief minister on the show (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked misinformation surrounding upcoming state elections in India here, here and here.
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