Puspha-2 fan war using AI: Manipulated video mocks Allu Arjun, much-awaited sequel

Hyderabad: The pre-release buzz for the movie ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ reached new heights after star Allu Arjun, at a recent event, reflected on his Chennai roots and credited Rajinikanth as his inspiration, highlighting his grounded persona.

Releasing on December 6, the Sukumar-directed sequel is expected to surpass its predecessor’s massive success across multiple languages. The film trailer was released on November 17. The power-packed visuals highlighted Allu Arjun’s Pushpa Raj in an intense ‘wildfire’ mode, teasing gripping drama, action and exciting confrontations between the lead characters. The film continues the protagonist Pushpa Raj’s journey into the crime world, emphasising his rise amid conflict and challenges.

However, a viral video, allegedly created by fans of Allu Arjun’s rivals, portrays him and the movie in a negative light. The viral video contains four clips from the movie’s trailer that have been manipulated using AI (Artificial Intelligence).

Here's a comparison of clips from the viral video with the original trailer.

The first viral clip shows Allu Arjun appearing to bite Rashmika Mandanna’s leg. Rashmika plays the role of Allu Arjun's wife in the sequel. However, the original trailer (at 1.04 minutes) shows the same scene but with Allu Arjun gently caressing her leg with his face, not biting it.

While the original trailer (at 1:02 minutes) shows Rashmika and others splashing water on Allu Arjun, the manipulated second clip shows Arjun shooting at them with a gun.

The third manipulated clip shows Allu Arjun lighting a cigar, which engulfs him in flames. In contrast, the original trailer (at the 0:46-second mark) shows him making a dramatic entry while lighting a cigar which doesn’t set him on fire. This highlighted the stark difference between the original and edited versions.

The final viral clip shows Allu Arjun being attacked by women after performing his signature hand-to-beard gesture. However, in the original trailer, this sequence is followed by a fiery showdown at the 2:27-minute mark, where the antagonist fires a gun and Allu Arjun dramatically blows up a bridge. The manipulated scene alters the context entirely.

Is the viral video manipulated using AI?

NewsMeter ran the video through different advanced AI-detecting tools which confirmed that the video was AI-generated.

Hive Moderation identified 99.9 per cent of the content as manipulated, while the Deepfake-O-Meter's detectors, including DSP-FWA (2019), assessed a 99.2 per cent likelihood of AI generation. Additionally, Deepware flagged the video as suspicious upon scanning, further confirming its artificial nature.