Screenshot of a statement about the 'boycott bollywood' trend linking it to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being shared on social media with a claim that actor Alia Bhatt held the party responsible for the boycott calls.
The screenshot carries the logo of news channel British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hindi to make it look legitimate. But neither did we find any such statement by the actor, nor has BBC published any such report.
Moreover, the channel took to Twitter to clarify that the screenshot is "fake." Previously, a fake tweet in the name of BBC had gone viral with a claim that the leading actors and the producer of the film Brahmastra have donated crores towards the relief of Pakistan floods.
CLAIM
The purported statement blames the BJP for the boycott calls and goes on to add that the party wants to shift the film industry to Noida. It further accuses the prime minister of ruining the country.
Several users have shared the statement with the same #BoycottBollywood.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
On checking BBC Hindi's Twitter account we did not come across any statement from the actor about the BJP and the boycott trend.
However, we found a tweet by BBC News Hindi that dismissed the claims and clarified that the screenshot going viral on social media is fake.
The tweet in Hindi read, "A post in BBC Hindi's name is being shared on social media that highlights a statement made by actress Alia Bhatt. The logo of BBC Hindi is also used in this. But, this is fake and it has nothing to do with BBC Hindi."
Further, had Alia made a statement naming the party of the prime minister, it would have been widely covered. But we went through several recent interviews that the actor has given from 5 August 2022 to 7 September 2022 and didn't find any such reference.
Clearly, a made-up statement was shared with a false claim that Alia Bhatt blamed the BJP being behind the 'boycott gang' and that it was aired by BBC.
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