No, Fans Did Not Set Jr NTR’s Poster on Fire in Hyderabad After Devara Released

Police confirmed to The Quint that the poster caught fire due to the burning of fire crackers around the area.

Fact-Check: The fire broke out due to fire crackers in the vicinity.

(Source: The Quint) 

A video showing a large cutout of actor Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr, popularly known as Junior NTR on fire, is being shared on social media platforms.

• Those sharing wrote, "Fans Burning NTR Cutout Outside Hyderabad Theatre after the Initial Poor Ratings & Bad Talk for the Movie Devara!"

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

This post recorded 252.1K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: While Jr NTR's cutout did catch fire, the actors' fans did not set it ablaze.

• Hyderabad Police confirmed to The Quint that poster caught fire due to fire crackers that were lit in its vicinity. News reports about the incident corroborate the same.

What we found: We divided the video into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across a post on X by an account named Nellore NTR Fans from 27 September. It carried the same visual as the viral clip.

• The post noted, "Due to Fire Crakers Devara Cutout Fired In Sudharsan 35 MM."

• We, then, undertook a keyword search and came across a report by Sisasat Daily which stated that at Sudharsan Theatre in Hyderabad, a large Jr NTR cutout went up in flames because of fireworks set off by enthusiastic fans.

• This happened when fans were gathered at RTC X Roads to celebrate the launch of the actor's film Devara: Part 1.

• Similarly, the Deccan Chronicle also reported this incident. It stated that the a huge crowd collected outside the theatre celebrated the release of the film and burnt firecrackers due to which the poster went up in flames.

Police comments: We contacted Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Akshansh Yadav of the Central Zone in Hyderabad who confirmed to The Quint that the fire broke due to the fire crackers.

Dismissing the claim, Yadav added that the fire was contained and the shows of the movie were running as per schedule.

Devara: Part 1 released today, 27 September. Apart from Jr NTR, it stars Jahnvi Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan.

Conclusion: A false claim went viral that fans put Jr NTR's poster on fire due to initial bad ratings of his newly released film, Devara.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)