A photograph showing actor Aamir Khan, Mona Singh, Naga Chaitanya, and producer Udhayanidhi Stalin in an almost empty cinema hall is being shared on social media with a claim that despite the presence of Khan, nobody showed up for the premiere show of the movie Laal Singh Chaddha.
This movie, directed by Advait Chandan, also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan opposite Aamir. It was released on 11 August amid the controversies about boycotting the movie. Khan had issued a clarification on the matter, saying that he did not mean to hurt anyone and someone doesn't want to watch the film, he would respect their sentiment.
However, this image is not from the premiere of the movie as claimed. This image was taken in a press meet organised in Chennai on 7 August 2022.
CLAIM
The image was shared by an actor named Kamaal Rashid Khan (KRK) with a claim that suggested that the theatre was almost empty at Laal Singh Chaddha's premiere show even though the actor, Aamir Khan, himself was present at the event.
An archived version of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
On conducting a reverse image search of the viral image on Google Images, we came across a post on Facebook with the same image by a page called 'Team Aamir Khan.'
This post from 7 August 2022 had a caption that said, "Akkineni Naga Chaitanya Udhayanidhi Stalin #MonaSingh and #AamirKhan on stage at the #LaalSinghChaddha Chennai press meet. (sic)."
An archived version of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
Taking a cue, we performed a keyword search using 'Aamir Khan for Laal Singh Chaddha press meet at Chennai' on Google.
This led us to a video report by TN360, a Tamil news channel, which also had Khan and Singh with the same attire as the viral picture.
The video posted on 7 August 2022 had a title that read, "Laal Singh Chaddha Press Meet Tamil | Aamir Khan | Nagachaitanya | Udhayanidhi Stalin".
We also found articles attributed to Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), an Indian news agency, from 7 August 2022 about Laal Singh Chaddha's press meet in Chennai.
The reports carried Aamir Khan's photo in which he can be seen wearing the same outfit as the viral image.
(Note: Swipe to see comparisons)
Aamir Khan can be seen in the same outfit.
(Source: IANS/The Quint)
Several reports by other local media outlets like Cinema Express, Movie Galleri and Chennai Vision reported the event as press meet at Sathyam theatre, Chennai.
Aamir Khan Productions on Twitter also shared a video of the Chennai's press meet on 9 August 2022.
The cast can be seen in the same attires as the viral image
The Quint also reached out to Team AIM, a PR agency of Laal Singh Chaddha (Tamil), who confirmed to us that the image is from the press meet conducted in Chennai on 7 August 2022.
Evidently, an image from a press meet was falsely shared as an image from Aamir Khan's movie Laal Singh Chaddha's premiere show.
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