Fact Check: Shashi Tharoor was not a child actor, viral photo is April Fools' Day joke

A black and white picture tweeted by film writer Vaibhav Vishal is being shared on social media with the claim that it is the photo of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as a child actor.

By Newsmeter Network  Published on  8 April 2022 6:00 AM GMT
Fact Check: Shashi Tharoor was not a child actor, viral photo is April Fools Day joke

Hyderabad: A black and white picture tweeted by film writer Vaibhav Vishal is being shared on social media with the claim that it is the photo of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as a child actor. The photo, Vishal claims, is from the movie 'Jailor' with Geeta Bali.

Several Twitter users have shared the photo.


Fact Check

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found that the photo was taken from the 1954 movie 'Ferry' starring Dev Anand, Geeta Bali (the actress in the viral photo), and child actor Babu. (Read more here)


Moreover, Tharoor was born in 1956, two years after the movie was released.

On 2 April 2022, Vaibhav Vishal had clarified that the tweet was an April Fools' Day joke. "Sorry to burst everybody's bubble here, but you guys were, well, April fooled. Politics is the best acting @ShashiTharoor does, and he does a phenomenal job of it, but outside of that, he never has acted in any movies," he had tweeted.

Shashi Tharoor also clarified saying, "For all those folks who took this exchange seriously: It's a joke! He is pulling my leg and I am playing along for fun. See yesterday's date! #AprilFoolsDay."

It is clear that the child actor in the photo is not Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. It was an April Fool's Day joke.

Claim Review:A photo of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor as a child actor.
Claimed By:Social Media Users
Claim Reviewed By:Newsmeter
Claim Source:Social Media
Claim Fact Check:False
Next Story