No, Kartik Aaryan has not endorsed Congress for 2023 Madhya Pradesh elections

What is the claim?

A video of Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan is going viral with the claim that he voiced support for the Indian National Congress ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, which are scheduled to go to polls on November 17. 

The video shows Aaryan walking towards passengers outside an airport, thinking they want a picture with him, but instead, the passengers are seen marveling at a billboard behind him. The video then cuts to the billboard, which claims to be a Congress advertisement about the party’s manifesto for the Madhya Pradesh elections featuring a picture of Congress leader Kamal Nath. Similarly, another passenger ignores him to look at another billboard that advertises schemes like promises of government jobs, loans, free bus service for women, and others. 

This video has been shared by many on social media, including Congress members and supporters. Archived versions of such posts can be seen here, here, and here.

Screenshot of the viral post (Source: X/Screenshot)

However, an advertisement by the streaming platform Disney Plus Hotstar has been manipulated to include a voiceover supporting the Congress.  

Here are the facts

Through a reverse image search, we found this video uploaded on Disney Plus Hotstar's YouTube channel on September 27, 2023. This video advertises the free web series, films, and live sports events, like the ICC Cricket World Cup, available on the Disney Plus Hotstar app and website. 

The original video shows two people looking at a billboard that advertises the ICC 2023 World Cup, ignoring the actor, and marveling that the content is “absolutely free on Disney Plus Hotstar.” The original video shows another young woman commenting, “On Disney Plus Hotstar, now, first-class entertainment is also free, hit movies and web series also.” The original video has no mentions of the Congress party, as the viral post claims. 

On September 23, Aaryan had also shared this advertisement on his Instagram account with the caption, “When Disney Plus Hotstar will give itna sab free ka, baaki sab to padega hi feeka (When Disney gives so much for free, everything else will appear dull). " 

Additionally, when the young woman in the video utters the name of the movie ‘Freddy,’ which starred Aaryan, the actor is heard saying, "I am Freddy." In the viral video, this dialogue of has been changed to: “Hey, I am also a Congressman.” In the original advertisement, Aaryan makes no mention of the Congress party.

As the video of Aaryan supporting Congress went viral, the actor took to X to clarify that the video was ‘fake.’ He shared the original video and wrote: “This is the REAL AD @DisneyPlusHS Rest all is Fake.”

Aaryan was the state icon of the Madhya Pradesh Election Commission in 2019

It is to be noted that the Chief Electoral Office in Madhya Pradesh had appointed Aaryan as a 'state icon' to promote voting in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

The verdict

The video of actor Kartik Aaryan extending his support to Congress for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh elections is false. The viral video is edited, and a different audio and digitally altered billboards have been added to the video.

(Translated by: Rajini KG)