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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Culture & entertainment fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about culture & entertainment. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,169 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Image of Lal Singh Chaddha’s premiere show where many seats are unoccupied

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a photo circulated as showing many unoccupied seats at a premiere screening of *Lal Singh Chaddha*. The review says the image was instead taken at a press event in Chennai: “The photo in the post was taken during a press meet held on 07 August 2022 at Satyam Theatre, Chennai.” It adds that the film was not premiered at that event; its trailer was launched there. To trace the image, the reviewers say they performed a reverse image search and found a Facebook post containing the same image. That post described the people pictured as being on stage at the Chennai press meet. The review then looked for reporting on the team’s Chennai press events and cites an ETV Bharath report, which it says placed the Tamil-dubbed-version press conference at Satyam Theatre complex on 07 August 2022 and named Aamir Khan, Mona Singh, SJ Surya, and Naga Chaitanya as attendees. The review also reports a visual match between the viral photo and a frame from a NewsBeez video report: “In the below image, we can see that the photo from the viral post matches a keyframe from the video report by a verified Youtube Channel, NewsBeez.” Taken together, the image match and the event reporting identify the setting as a promotional press meet, not a premiere screening. The photo therefore does not establish that seats were unoccupied at a premiere.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

Recent video of a tricolour waterfall created as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a video presented as a recent tricolour waterfall display created for the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. The review says the footage instead shows a waterfall in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, coloured by tourists, and dates it to around India’s Independence Day on 15 August 2020. That chronology places the footage roughly two years before the 2022 claim and means it does not document an event created for the campaign: the review says it “was not recorded as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.” (S1: “The video shared in the post shows old visuals of a mesmerising tricolour waterfall created by a few tourists in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. This video was recorded around the 73rd Independence Day celebrated on 15 August 2020. The video shared in the post is old and was not recorded as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.”) To check the video’s history, the review describes reverse image searches of screenshots and searches for related reporting. It reports that similar visuals had appeared on social media since August 2020, including a post dated 15 August, and that Times Now and ABP reported on the waterfall the following day. ABP located the scene in Jodhpur and described people colouring the waterfall. (S1: “On reverse image search of the screenshots of the video, videos showing similar visuals were found posted on social media at least since August 2020.”; “A Twitter user shared this video on 15 August 2020”; “‘Times Now’ published an article reporting about this beautiful tricolour waterfall on 16 August 2020.”; “‘ABP’ reported it as the visuals of a waterfall that was created to flow in tricolour in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.”) The review also reports that Vishvas News contacted Jodhpur journalist Dr Ranjan Dave. Dave identified the place as Khandi, on the Daijar road, about 20–25 km from Jodhpur, and described two youths colouring the waterfall roughly two years earlier. This evidence supports the review’s distinction between old footage from Rajasthan and the claimed recent campaign display in Uttar Pradesh. (S1: “Dr Ranjan Dave, a senior journalist from Jodhpur.”; “This step is from the delightful place of Khandi. It is on the Daijar road, about 20 to 25 km from Jodhpur. About two years ago, two youths mixed colours in the waterfall and gave it a tricolour-like appearance”.)

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

The only six Indians whose names got listed in the book ‘365 People Who Changed The World’

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The viral post claimed that Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Rabindranath Tagore, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan and Mukesh Ambani were the only Indians named in ‘365 People Who Changed The World’. FACTLY checked the book’s Kindle edition, which it found on Amazon, and looked for whether those six were the only Indian names listed. The review reports that they were not: it identifies other Indian personalities included in the book, among them Aryabhata, Ashoka, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, JRD Tata, Narayan Murthy, Aurobindo Ghosh, Satyajit Ray, Dhirubhai Ambani, Kapil Dev and A. R. Rahman. The review also distinguishes between the claim that the six appeared in the book and the claim that they were the only Indians listed. It says that all of the post’s named figures except Mukesh Ambani appear in the book, while the additional Indian entries disprove the exclusivity claim. The evidence described therefore supports a narrower conclusion: the post’s list was not a complete list of Indian personalities in the book.

FACTLYCulture & entertainment

1400 సంవత్సరాల క్రితం పల్లవ రాజు రెండవ నరశింహవర్మ కర్ణాటకలోని తలగిరిలో నిర్మించిన శివాలయం యొక్క శిల్పాలలో కంప్యూటర్ మరియు కీ-బోర్డుతో సహా ఉన్న ఒక శిల్పం యొక్క ఫోటో

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

El Detector / Univison NoticiasCulture & entertainment

La joven que toca versión de “Oye cómo va” en un video es una de las hijas del expresidente Barack Obama

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerned a viral video showing a young woman playing a version of “Oye cómo va.” A Facebook post identified her as one of Barack and Michelle Obama’s daughters. The review says the video had more than 100,000 views and that the post continued to attract comments; it distinguishes the two Obama daughters by name, Malia and Natasha (Sasha).

dpaCulture & entertainment

Deze video toont een balletuitvoering bij een NATO-vergadering.

Publisher’s rating: De claim dat deze beelden een balletuitvoering bij een NAVO-vergadering tonen is onjuist. Te zien is een optreden van het theatergezelschap Action Zoo Humaine tijdens de opening van het collegejaar 2017-2018 van de Universiteit van Gent.

The video was shared as footage of an unusual performance at a NATO meeting, but the investigation identifies it as an excerpt from a theatrical performance at Ghent University. The university’s opening of the 2017–2018 academic year, held on 9 October 2017, also marked its bicentenary; the performance was an artistic interlude by the theater company Action Zoo Humaine.