A selfie video of Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan from last year is being shared online falsely claiming that the footage shows the actor cancelling his Maldives tour in solidarity with recent boycott appeals by Indian social media users.
BOOM found the claim to be false. The video dates back to November 2023, during which Roshan announced the cancellation of The Stars on Fire Kuala Lumpur Bollywood concert slated for December 1, 2023, in Malaysia.
Multiple Bollywood actors have recently expressed their opposition to Maldives after three Maldivian ministers made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his visit to Lakshadweep. The actors urged their followers to choose Lakshadweep as an alternate destination to the Maldives. Several former Maldivian ministers also condemned the derogatory remarks made against Modi, stressing that such comments could strain relations between the two countries and hurt Maldives' economy.
The diplomatic row between the two countries has led to a lot of misinformation shared by Indian social media users.
An X user posted the video with "Boycott Maldives" hashtag and wrote, "Thanks and appreciate Hrithik Roshan ji for such a fantastic decision. This is literally mine a lot for our country. May lord jagannath bless you a lot Jay jagannath".
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
In the video, the actor speaks about cancelling his trip to the South-east Asian country Malaysia rather than the Republic of Maldives.
Roshan can be heard saying, "Dear people of Malaysia, I was eagerly looking forward to being with all of you for the Stars On Fire Tour. However, considering the current challenges and out of deep respect for the well-being of the people in Malaysia, we have all made the decision to cancel this tour. My prayers and thoughts are with you all. Lastly, I would like to thank Heart-Art Productions and our crew members along with our promoters Dembi Productions and Yess Boss Group for working towards putting this show together. Thank you and stay safe.”
We found that the same video message had been posted on Heart-Art Productions' Instagram account on November 30, 2023.
Click here to view the post.
We also noticed that several Malaysia-based news outlets reported about the cancellation of the Roshan-led Bollywood concert at Bukit Jalil National Stadium at that time.
The Star on December 4, 2023, reported stating, "The Stars On Fire Tour was initially set to take place at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Dec 1. Tickets went on sale in October. On Nov 27, Yess Boss Group announced that the show would be postponed due to unforeseen circumstances."
The report further added, "Prior to the postponement, PAS MP Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman had called for the cancellation of the event, claiming that it was "unsuitable and insensitive" amid the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict."
Moreover, we checked the actor's verified social media accounts but did not find any post in which the actor supported the "Boycott Maldives" calls, at the time of writing this fact-check.