No, actor Arjun Kapoor did not wish BRS legislator victory in Telangana polls

What is the claim?

Just days before the southern Indian state of Telangana goes to poll on November 30, a video of Indian actor Arjun Kapoor has been shared on social media with the claim that he addressed political leader G Mahipal Reddy and wished him victory in the upcoming election. Reddy is a Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) legislator and is contesting again from Hyderabad's Pantancheru constituency. 

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

A user on Instagram shared this video with a Telugu caption claiming the actor wished Reddy "a thumping victory" in the elections. This claim was also shared on Facebook by supporters of the BRS. Archived versions of such posts can be found here and here.

Screenshot of the viral claim made online. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is misleading. Arjun Kapoor did not specifically make any such wish addressing the BRS MLA. This video has been edited from a template of customized wishes made available by a gifting website in India. 

What are the facts?

We checked the actor's official social media accounts and found he did not share such a video in the run-up to the Telangana polls. There are also no news reports of Kapoor extending support to the BRS candidate or the latter's party.

It is to be noted that other than mentioning Reddy's name when the video starts, Kapoor makes no specific mention of the Telangana elections in the video. 

A reverse image search showed us many such videos of Kapoor dating back to at least July 2023. These videos show the actor in the same attire but sharing birthday wishes for different people. Only the name at the beginning of these videos changes, and the rest of the message remains the same.

Our research showed that several gifting websites in India allow people to buy a 'customized celebrity birthday wish' at a cost. We found one such feature on the website, ' Ferns N Petals,' which offers paid video wishes from a celebrity of people's choice. There are several such pre-recorded video templates of celebrities like Kareena Kapoor, Ananya Panday, and Jacqueline Fernandes that people can customize for a certain cost. The website also allows customers to pay for personalized wishes from Arjun Kapoor. The actor is supporting the same clothes as seen in the viral video in the clips available on the 'Ferns N Petals' website.

Screenshot from the 'Ferns N Petals' website that offers a personalized birthday wish from Arjun Kapoor as a paid service (Source: Screenshot/Ferns N Petals website)

This indicates that the now-viral video was most likely created using this feature on the 'Ferns N Petals' website. 

The verdict 

The viral video of Arjun Kapoor does not show him wishing BRS candidate Mahipal Reddy a 'thumping victory' in the Telangana elections. A static video template has been edited and shared with a false narrative. Hence, we mark this claim as misleading.