Fact Check: Video showing actor Arjun Kapoor ‘wishing’ BRS candidate Mahipal Reddy is fan-commissioned

Hyderabad: A video of Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor allegedly wishing Patancheru BRS party candidate Gudem Mahipal Reddy all the best for the ensuing Telangana State Assembly elections has gone viral on social media.

The video was shared through Instagram with the caption, “Cine actor Arjun Kapoor congratulated MLA GMR. Famous movie actor Arjun Kapoor wished Patancheru BRS party candidate Gudem Mahipal Reddy Garu a grand victory in the upcoming Assembly elections. He sent a video message to this effect. (translated from Telugu)”

In the video, Arjun Kapoor could be seen saying, “Hi Mahipal Reddy, this is Arjun Kapoor and I am reaching out to you to give my best wishes. I hope you know that your family and friends are always rooting for you. And we wish you the very best in life. May this decade bring you the success that you deserve.”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the viral video is a pre-recorded message by Arjun Kapoor commissioned through a video-wishing platform.

In our initial search, we found a similar video of Arjun Kapoor on the YouTube channel UNAccc News. In the video, published on April 10, 2023, Arjun Kapoor could be seen conveying the same message in the same attire to a different person. The person the actor wished in the video was Dr Rajat. The YouTube video was titled ‘Bollywood Star @Arjun kapoor Best Wishes to @unacccnews Chairman Dr. Rajat Sharma.’

Since the entire message was the same as the viral video except for the name, it hinted that this might be a service where fans can book their favorite celebrity to send a personalised video wishing them or any other person of their choice.

Moving forward, we found a different version of Arjun Kapoor’s wishing script with a different dialogue but in the same outfit, on multiple social media posts. In this version, actor Arjun Kapoor could be seen conveying happy birthday wishes to different people. Click here and here to view the posts. The Gujarati caption when translated reads “Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor wishes Shivabhai Silanki on his birthday.”

Taking this as a cue, we performed a keyword search and found the original version of the video on the YouTube channel of Ferns N Petals published on June 27, 2023. The caption of the video said, “Arjun Kapoor sends warm birthday wishes from FNP! Avail this service by going to the FNP website today.”

According to its website, FNP is an online and offline gifting and bouquet store that also provides the opportunity to order personalized videos of multiple celebrities wishing people and their loved ones on their birthdays and anniversaries.

In a section called ‘Birthday Surprise Personalised Message By Arjun Kapoor’ under ‘Celebrity video messages’, we found a video of Arjun Kapoor wishing a person a happy birthday. He was wearing the same dress from the viral video wishing Mahipal Reddy. As per the details on the page (check screenshot), for Rs 599 anyone can purchase a personalized video of Arjun Kapoor wishing happy birthday and/or other messages with a name of the buyer’s choice.

We also found another similar website called True Fan, where one can order such personalized video messages of celebrities wishing them. The website contains a number of such videos with hundreds of celebrities worldwide.

Although it is yet to be confirmed if Arjun Kapoor is referring to Patancheru BRS party candidate Gudem Mahipal Reddy in the viral video, we conclude that the video does not show Arjun Kapoor ‘personally’ wishing Mahipal Reddy for the upcoming elections. The video is a gift service to commission celebrities to wish people which anyone can avail of.