Update (10 October 2023)
Another video of the show Kaun Banega Crorepati KBC has gone viral on social media. In this video, the show’s host, Amitabh Bachchan, can be seen asking a question related to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: A derogatory question about Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan was asked on KBC.
Fact: This is an edited video; this viral clip was clipped from a KBC episode of season 14. The viral clip was created by overlaying a voice-over on the original voice of Amitabh Bachchan and replacing the original question graphic, which was about “films about a sportsperson,” with a question about Chief Ministers. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To learn more about the viral clip, we performed a reverse image search on the internet using a few keyframes. This search revealed that the contestant’s name is “Bhupendra Choudhary.” A further search on the internet for this specific episode in which he was featured led us to an episode of KBC uploaded on the official YouTube channel of KBC India.
In this episode from season 14, Bhupendra Chaudhary’s sixth question for 20,000 rupees was on “films about a sportsperson.” The portion of the viral clip is picked from the original clip from the 18:59 time stamp. In the viral video, this question was changed into a question about a “Ghoshna Machine” Chief Minister; this was clearly done by replacing the original question graphic and the voice of Amitabh Bachchan with the ones in the viral video.
Furthermore, we also learned that Sony Entertainment Television has released a statement on X(formerly known as Twitter) in which they said, “This video misleadingly overlays a voice-over of our host and presents distorted content.”
Also, BJP legal cell of Madhya Pradesh co-convenor Ashok Vishwakarma and member Rahul Srivastava lodged a complaint against the Congress media department chairman, KK Mishra, for sharing this edited video on X.
Published (07 September 2023)
A video clip of the TV quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) is being shared on social media in which a contestant can be seen giving a wrong answer to the question: Which government constructed the Mahakal Lok located in Ujjain? It is being claimed that he lost around 6.5 crores due to his andh bhakti (blind faith). Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: These visuals show a KBC contestant losing 6.5 crores due to his andh bhakti.
Fact: This is digitally morphed footage; the original clip shows a contestant named Shashwat Goel giving the wrong answer to the 7.5 Crore question. This question is not related to the Mahakal Lok, as claimed in the viral post, but it was about the motto of a British Army unit. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To learn more details about the viral clip, we performed a keyword search (including words like 7.5 crore, KBC contestant, etc.) on the internet. This search led us to the full episode of the contestant featured in the viral clip. This episode is available on the official YouTube channel of KBC. The contestant’s name is Shashwat Goel. He failed to pass through the final, i.e., the 17th question worth 7.5 Crores, and won 75 Lakh rupees in this episode.
Getting back to the details, the viral clip was taken from this episode; one can see the portion seen in the viral video from 1 hr 11 Minutes and 42 Seconds (here). The viral clip shows a question related to Mahakal Lok in Ujjain. However, the actual question was about the motto of the first British Army Unit to serve in India.
Moreover, the video clip itself gives away that it has been tampered with. The moment the host Amitabh Bachchan starts to ask the 17th question, his voice sounds a little muffled, very different from how he sounds in the early portions of the video. Also, at 18 seconds, when the question is asked, the host can be seen not speaking, but the question is already heard. This makes it clear that the original clip has been digitally edited to create the viral clip. You can see the difference between the both in the following collage.
To sum up, this video clip of a KBC contestant giving a wrong answer to a political question has been edited.
