Video of synchronised yoga record attempt in India's West Bengal state is AI-generated
- Published on June 26, 2026 at 10:22
- 3 min read
- By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India
After the West Bengal government announced plans to set a new world record by having yoga practitioners do synchronised poses on 500 boats on the Hooghly River, an AI-generated video was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed the attempt. The video does not match photos of the event on the river, and contains visual errors indicative of synthetic content. The person who created the video told AFP it was made using ChatGPT, Gemini, and Kling 3.0.
"World record yoga on 500 boats across tha ganga," says a Facebook post shared on June 20, 2026.
The attached 14-second video starts with an aerial view of hundreds of small boats filled with people in white outfits under Kolkata's Howrah Bridge and ends with a spectacular drone show.
The overlaid text reads, "Kolkata is going for a Guinness World Record. Yoga on 500 boats across the Ganga."
The video also circulated in similar Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X posts.
"Wow, a consolidation that changed the fate of the entire WB state. Never have I seen Yoga being celebrated so vehemently in this part of the country. Positive signs for the state as well as India," reads a comment on one of the posts.
Another says: "Superb! What a visual. Picture postcard perfect!"
The video surfaced after Indian media reported that grand celebrations were planned in Kolkata to mark the 12th International Day of Yoga on June 21, with a world record attempt to occur on the Hooghly River (archived link).
"In a breath-taking bid for the Guinness World Records, 500 boats will hit the water synchronised in yoga positions," said a report in the Times of India, adding that a "mega drone light show" would also take place in the night sky above the Howrah bridge and the Second Hooghly Bridge.
But the video shared on social media does not match photos or videos of the attempt, and was in fact created with the help of AI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the national observance of the International Day of Yoga from the Red Road in Kolkata with thousands of participants under the theme 'Yoga for Healthy Ageing' (archived link).
Photos of the event were shared by the NurPhoto agency, showing participants performing synchronised yoga exercises aboard boats on the Hooghly River (archived here and here).
The falsely shared video differs from these photos, and contains anomalies that indicate it was AI-generated.
The boats in the falsely shared video are arranged in perfect rows, with identical spacing and participants in identical poses. The crowd watching the drone show at the end of the clip are also unnaturally still, and reflections in the river do not appear to match the light given off by the drones.
According to an analysis using the Hive Moderation detection tool, the video is "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content" (archived link).
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same clip shared on Instagram on June 20 (archived link).
The video was shared on the page "Kolkatar Golpo" and part of its caption reads, "For the first time ever, Kolkata is set to attempt a Guinness World Record as yoga practitioners perform synchronized yoga on 500 boats floating across the sacred Ganga beneath the iconic Howrah Bridge."
It also says, "Generated with AI".
AFP reached out to the founder of the Instagram page, Shouvik Ghosh, who said he created the video circulating on social media.
He said the video was made using ChatGPT, Gemini, and Kling 3.0.
"The event was officially announced, and I created an AI visualisation of how it could look if 500 people performed yoga on boats. It's a creative representation," he said on June 22.
AFP has previously debunked a slew of misleading claims relying on AI-generated content.
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