An image of actor Deepika Padukone wearing a black top displaying a solidarity message towards the ongoing farmers' protest is morphed. BOOM found that the image has been doctored to include the text "I Stand with Indian farmers" on the top that the actor is wearing.
Several netizens have fallen for the morphed image which misleadingly claims that Padukone extended her support to the farmers' agitation against the newly adapted Farm and Agriculture Reform Bills in several states, as she reached the NCB office for questioning.
Actors and talent managers from the film and TV industry have been questioned by the Narcotics Control Bureau about their connection to an alleged drugs nexus in Bollywood. Deepika Padukone was questioned on September 26 by the NCB after Whatsapp conversations came to light alleging that she was the admin of a group where drugs were discussed, with her manager Karishma Prakash. Other actors including Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh have also been questioned last week.
The image is being shared on Facebook with captions in Bengali which read, "She is the actual queen of Jhansi, she is there with the farmers amidst hundreds of obstacles, rather calling them terrorists, Salute Maam."
(Original text in Bengali: "ইনি হলেন আসল ঝাঁসি রানি... জিনিস শত বাধাতেও কৃষকের সাথে আছেন... কৃষকদেরকে সন্ত্রাসবাদি আখ্যা না দিয়ে........... সেলুট ম্যাডাম " )
Another caption reads, "Congratulations to Deepika Padukone for supporting the Farmers agitation against Governments Agriculture policies."
(Original text in Bengali: দীপিকা পাড়ুকোন আপনাকে অভিনন্দন সরকারের কৃষি নিতীর বিরুদ্ধে কৃষক আন্দোলন কে সমর্থন জানানোর জন্য।)
Fact Check
BOOM found that the the image has been edited to include the text on the top that Padukone is wearing. We ran a reverse image search and found that the original image was clicked in March, 2018, when Padukone was photographed leaving the Mumbai airport. In the original image, Padukone can be seen wearing a solid black top. According to a photo feature article in the The Indian Express,
Deepika was spotted coming out of the airport on March 18. The photo was clicked by Varinder Chawla. Click here to see the image in the Indian Express and
Times of India.
Below is a screenshot of the Indian Express article.
According to the description in the Times of India photo feature of celeb spotting (picture serial 141/188), "Deepika Padukone has been spending some time off the spotlight after basking in the success of her big release 'Padmaavat'. Now, as she is going about spending some time with friends and family, the actress was spotted recently at the airport."
Below is a comparison of screenshots of viral post (left) and the original image (right).
Paduoke wore a solid light brown coloured palazzo and kurta as she arrived at the NCB guesthouse in Mumbai on September 26 for questioning.
