Unrelated video falsely portrayed as showing Bollywood superstar Salman Khan at Kumbh Mela

Published on February 17, 2025 at 10:24
3 min read
By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India

Misrepresented clips continued to swirl on social media around India's Kumbh Mela festival, including footage of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan that was falsely portrayed as showing him at the world's biggest religious gathering. No official report indicates he attended as of February 17, while the video previously appeared in posts about Khan's birthday celebration.

"Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant reach Maha Kumbh with Salman," read the Hindi-language caption to the 11-second clip shared on Instagram on January 28, 2025.

The video, which racked up more than two million views, shows bodyguards flanking Khan, and energy tycoon Anant Ambani and his wife Radhika Merchant (archived link).

Screenshot of the false X post, captured on February 3, 2025

India's government says more than 420 million pilgrims have attended the great or "Maha" Kumbh Mela held every 12 years in northern Prayagraj city (archived link).

The six-week-long Hindu celebration of prayer and bathing has attracted scores of India's popular celebrities and prominent politicians (archived link).

It has also sparked online misinformation with posts misrepresenting videos unrelated to the gathering.

The video of Khan, Ambani and Merchant was shared with similar claims elsewhere on Facebook and X.

Comments to the posts indicate they believed the claim.

"A separate path for the poor, a separate path for the rich. They should have been sent in a crowd, only then they would come to know," one wrote.

Another said: "Who has the most faith? The rich go with money, the poor are helpless, yet they go."

The Hindustan Times newspaper reported on February 13 that Ambani and Merchant ritually bathed in Prayagraj with their family but there were no official accounts they attended alongside Khan (archived link).

Birthday party

A reverse image search of the clip's keyframes on Google found a longer video shared on X on December 29, 2024 -- two weeks before the Kumbh Mela (archived link).

"Salman Khan was seen speaking with Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani at Reliance Green in Jamnagar," its caption read.

Visuals from the first 11 seconds of video correspond with the clip shared in the false posts.

Screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the false posts (left) and footage posted on X before the Kumbh Mela (right)

Indian newspapers Hindustan Times and Times of India published various clips from Khan's birthday celebration where he, Ambani and Merchant can be seen sporting the same clothes as the circulating clip (archived links here and here).

The reports said Khan celebrated his 59th birthday with family and close friends in Jamnagar city in western Gujarat state on December 28, 2024.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and an image showing the trio published in a Hindustan Times report about Khan's birthday celebration (right)

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail