A few images of actor and TV personality Rakhi Sawant posing with Pakistan’s national flag has caused quite a stir on social media. Recently, a Facebook user named Kuber Kawar shared these images and wrote, “I’m sure you must have recognized this b**** Rakhi Sawant. See her true side for yourself. She fools the public by blabbering about being an Indian. Such people should be hanged or kicked out of the country.” Kawar’s post had been shared more than 700 times at the time of writing. (Archived link to the post)
A Twitter user also shared the photos with the same claim.
They are also being circulated on Facebook and Twitter to claim that Sawant supports Pakistan.
Fact-check
A reverse image search led us to a report by India Today from May 9, 2019. It stated that the photos had been taken during the shooting of Sawant’s new film ‘Dhara 370’. The actor is reportedly playing the role of a Pakistani woman in the film. The article also mentioned that she had received fierce backlash from social media trolls when the pictures had initially surfaced.
These pictures were also posted on Rakhi Sawant’s official Instagram account on May 8, 2019. In the caption she wrote, “I love my India but it’s my character in the film Dhara 370.”
We also found a video of Sawant from May 9. 2019 where she says that she is playing the character of a Pakistani woman. While discussing the behind-the-scenes details, she explained that the crew was currently shooting for one of the film’s songs at the Pakistan border. It is worth noting that in this video she is seen in the same clothes that she is wearing in the pictures that have gone viral. Apart from this, she had posted a clarification video on her own Instagram account.
Entertainment Times, which is affiliated to the Times of India Group, published a report about the shooting of ‘Dhara 370’ on May 10, 2019. Amar Ujala’s report from May 6, 2019, also covered the making of the film.
Social media users have been falsely targetting Rakhi Sawant by sharing a few old photos of her with a Pakistani flag, which were taken during a shoot. The actor is posing with the flag since she played the role of a Pakistani woman for her film, ‘Dhara 370’.
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.
