Fact check: Telugu actress Sanjjanaa Galrani converted to Islam in 2018, not after watching The Kerala Story

Images of Telugu actress Sanjjanaa Galrani (alternatively spelt as Sanjana) and her family have been circulating on social media with the claim that the actress converted to Islam after watching the film ‘The Kerala Story’. Users have also claimed that the actress had undertaken the sacred Haj pilgrimage after converting to Islam and getting married.

The Indian Muslim Foundation chairman and national spokesperson Shoaib Jamai wrote in a tweet that after watching the film, Sanjjanaa Galrani accepted Islam, married Aziz Pasha and went on the Haj pilgrimage. He also claimed that Sanjjanaa had said she was living a happy and peaceful life. The tweet contained collages of some pictures and screenshots of news reports.

The tweet also falsely mentioned Devoleena Bhattacharjee as a co-actress in the film, ‘The Kerala Story’. This is a false claim that has been already debunked by Alt News.

#TheKeralaStory के सुखद परिणाम।💚
फिल्म देखने के बाद साउथ फिल्मों की एक्ट्रेस संजना गलरानी ने #इस्लाम कुबूल करके #अजीज पाशा ने निकाह किया और सऊदी अरब हज यात्रा पर गई। संजना ने कहा की वो अब सुखी जीवन जी रही है और दिल को सुकून है। B – मंडलीय में शोक की लहर।😍

वहीं The Kerala story… pic.twitter.com/Gg00ZQjXDS

— Dr. Shoaib Jamai (@shoaibJamei) May 23, 2023

Images of Sanjjanaa Galrani and the aforementioned claims are viral on Facebook and Twitter. Screenshots of some of the social media posts can be seen here:

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Fact Check

We read the Indian Express report, a screenshot of which is included in the viral posts. It was published on May 17. (Headline: ‘Sanjana Galrani set to perform her first Umrah in Mecca: ‘I don’t want to be judged by people who are not secular’). The report said, Sanjjanaa, who was born into a Hindu family, converted to Islam a few years back and married a doctor named Aziz Pasha.”

We also found a report by Asia Net News published in December 2020 which contained an affidavit. The document, dated October 9, 2018, mentions ”Miss Archana Manohar Galrani shall now be known by her new Muslim name Miss Mahira”. It also states that Miss Mahira “embraced Islam on her own will and accord without any pressure or hindrance from any source whatsoever.” The affidavit can be seen below:

By going through Sanjjanaa’s Instagram profile, we also came across one of the pictures used in the viral posts. In it, the actress is with her husband, Aziz Pasha, a physician by profession, and their child. It was uploaded on May 23.

To sum up, social media claims that suggest that Telugu actress Sanjjanaa Galrani converted to Islam after watching the film ‘The Kerala Story’ are baseless and untrue. The actress had converted to Islam in October 2018.

Vansh Shah is an intern at Alt News.