A video of a young boy performing stunts on rollerskates has gone viral on social media. As per claims, the boy is “Jamal Malik from Mumbai”. Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Rafiq Ansari tweeted the video with the same claim which has been viewed over 16,000 times.

A handle @0785Ha tweeted the video on July 31 which had been viewed over 19,000 times. The handle, which has now changed its username to @0006Ha, also claimed that the boy shown in the video is a tea-seller in Mumbai.

On Facebook, a page ‘We support Abhisar Sharma’ also posted the video with the same claim. Another user posted this with a caption in Gujarati, ““મુંબઈ મેં ચા બેચને વાલે 7 વર્ષ એ જમાલ મલિક ને કમાલ કર દિયા, એક વાર ઉસકા ટેલન્ટ જરૂર દેખીયે”, which has been viewed over 1 lakh times.

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Alt News has received multiple requests on the official mobile application to check the credibility of this video.

Fact-check

A car that appears in the video has “Khivraj” written on its backside. Khivraj Motors is a car dealer based out of Chennai.

Furthermore, a song from the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is playing in the background of the video. In the movie, the character played by actor Dev Patel is named Jamal Malik. The background sound includes the part from the movie where actor Anil Kapoor says “Mumbai ka chaiwala, Jamal Mailk! (Mumbai’s tea seller, Jamal Mallik)”. Most people on social media have fallen for this background narration and claimed that the boy in the video is actually a tea-seller from Mumbai, Jamal Malik.

A keyword search on YouTube led to the same video uploaded on April 12, 2014. The boy who is skating has been identified as Henry. The visuals from the viral video can be seen here from 1 minute 42 seconds onwards. The channel also uploaded a longer video of Henry’s stunts on skates.

Upon further search, we found out more information about Henry’s stunts and a record on the “India Book of Records” website. Henry performed this stunt at Chennai’s Savita Engineering College on April 10, 2014. As per the website, Henry completed the stunt by passing below 45 Renault Nissan cars covering a distance of 102 meters in 27.4 seconds.

Henry’s name appears in the ‘Longest Distance Covered in Limbo’ category on the website of Record Holders Republic. Additionally, Asia Book of Records also mentions Henry’s stunt.

Therefore, Chennai boy Henry performing stunts on skates has been misidentified as “Jamal Mallik from Mumbai” who is a fictional character from the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

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About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.