By Nivedita Niranjankumar
A viral video showing a snippet of the Amitabh Bachchan hosted quiz show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' where the actor supposedly refers to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as "the announcement minister" who only makes speeches and does not do real work, is doctored and fake.
BOOM found that the viral video is digitally altered using fake graphics and a fake audio impersonating Bachchan - the quizmaster of the show. The original episode shows the question asked was about a Bollywood movie which the contestant answered correctly.
This is the second such doctored KBC video BOOM has debunked targeting Shivraj Singh Chouhan who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Madhya Pradesh will go to polls in November along with four other states this year.
The one-minute and 44 seconds long clip shows Bachchan supposedly asking the question "Which among these chief ministers is called "announcement minister" for their fake promises?" The options include A)Manohar Lal Khattar B)Shivraj Singh Chouhan C)Yogi Adityanath and D) Bhupendra Patel. Each of the four options are chief ministers of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat respectively and all are BJP leaders. In the edited viral video, the contestant choose option B - Shivraj Singh Chouhan which is shown to be the correct answer. winning him the prize of Rs 20,000
The video was shared by several Congress accounts on X (formerly Twitter) and by Congress fan pages on Facebook.
FACT CHECK
We noticed that the voice over reading out the question did not sound like the actor Amitabh Bachchan and the lip sync did not match with that seen in the video.
A reverse image search on a keyframe from the video using keywords of KBC in Hindi led us to the original video of the show uploaded on YouTube in January 2023, by the makers of the show. In the show, the contestant identified as Bhupendra Choudhary answered a series of questions before reaching the sixth question for the amount of Rs 20,000.
At the 18.59 counter, Bachchan reads out the sixth question which is, "Which of these movies is not about a sportsperson?" with the options of A. Saina B. Piku C.Bhaag Milkha Bhaag D. Shabaash Mithu which the contestant answers correctly.
A comparison of the fake question in the viral video with the original is below :
Below is the full show with the section in the viral video
We also found a statement issued by Sony TV on X, the channel which airs the show calling the viral video "fabricated and misleading".
A search for Bhupendra Choudhary KBC on Facebook showed a reel uploaded by the contestant himself calling the video fake. In the Facebook reel uploaded by Choudhary he says he is from Madhya Pradesh and that the video is edited.
Choudhary says, "I was never asked the question (in the viral video) when I was a contestant." He then reads out the actual question that was asked and his reply to the same.
