A video of dancer Sunila Ashok performing to 'Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai' is being misattributed to Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 27, 2023
A viral claim circulating on social media about a video featuring an elderly woman dancing to the classic Bollywood song ‘Aaj Phir Jeene ka Tamanna Hai’ states that the woman is the iconic Bollywood actress, Waheeda Rehman, performing after receiving the Dada Saheb Phalke award (here). We examine the validity of this claim through this fact-check.
Claim: This video of an elderly woman dancing to ‘Aaj Phir Jeene ka Tamanna Hai’ features Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman.
Fact: The woman in the video is not Waheeda Rehman but a woman named Sunila Ashok. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
We initiated the fact check by performing a keyword search on the internet about the video. This search directed us to a YouTube channel named ‘Mayookha,’ which featured the same video.
The video was uploaded in January 2022. Further investigations led us to find out more about Sunila Ashok. We stumbled upon her Instagram page ‘mayookha_sunila‘, where we found the same viral video.
A post shared by Sunila Ashok (@mayookha_sunila)
In a pinned post addressing the video, she stated, “woke up this morning to a flurry of messages from my family & friends. My video for ‘Aaj phir jeene ki Tamanna hai’ seems to have gone viral as Waheeda Rahman’s dance video! I am greatly honoured to be compared to her and I am overwhelmed with all the love and appreciation I am getting from my viewers”. This clearly indicates that it is Sunila Ashok in the video, not the acclaimed actress Waheeda Rehman.
To sum up, the woman dancing to ‘Aaj Phir Jeene ka Tamanna Hai’ in the viral video is not Waheeda Rehman but Sunila Ashok.