A viral video featuring two women inside a metro rail coach applying gulaal (Holi colours) on each other while performing an act to a Bollywood song has sparked a controversy on social media. Several users called for legal action against the women in the video. Responding to the matter, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) told the media that the authenticity of the video was “doubtful” and it might have been created using deep fake technology. Some users also pointed out the same on social media.
Several mainstream news outlets such as The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, WION, NDTV, Aaj Tak, and Jagran carried reports quoting the DMRC.
Some users also claimed that the incident happened in Kolkata metro. A few instances can be found below:
Fact Check
Claim 1: The incident happened in Kolkata metro
On running a relevant keyword search related to the viral video, we found several news reports on the incident and all of them mentioned that the incident had taken place in Delhi Metro. Further, the response to the viral video came from the official Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) which runs Metro Rail services in the NCR.
We could also spot the official logo of DMRC in the background of the metro which confirms that the video was shot in a Delhi metro and not in Kolkata.
Claim 2: It is a deep-fake generated video
After breaking down the video into several key frames and running a reverse image search, we came across a tweet by a user called @ThePerilousGirl who posted the viral video and mentioned in the caption that the video was not fake and shared the link to the original video posted on Instagram by a user called @preeti.morya.714.
We noticed that the account belonged to one of the two women in the viral video — the one on the left in a white saree. Preeti Morya posted the same viral video on her Instagram page on March 21 with the caption: “Happy Holi”.
View this post on Instagram
We found another video of hers seemingly from the same day, posted on March 22, where she could be seen sitting in a public place and playing with gulaal. The Hindi film song that has been added to the viral metro video has been used in this video as well.
Her Instagram timeline contains many such videos where she can be seen acting out skits or dancing in public places. We also found more such videos of hers in the Delhi metro.
The now-viral video posted by Preeti Morya on Instagram had another handle tagged in it, that of @kmvineeta269. This handle belonged to Km Vineeta, the other woman in the viral video. We noticed that @kmvineeta269’s profile photo was an image of the two women in the viral video, which had the words “My best friend Preeti” embedded in it.
On Km Vineeta’s profile, we found many other reels wherein she and Preeti Morya could be seen together.
The above findings indicate that the viral video is real.
Further, we came across another version of the viral video taken from a different angle seemingly recorded by one of the passengers in the metro.
🚨 That’s not a deepfake video. Irrationally blaming deepfake and AI for everything seems to have become a new trend.
Here’s the video of a possible retake/rehearsal from another angle which was recorded by a passenger. @OfficialDMRC https://t.co/juyMEDZpg1 pic.twitter.com/1DNKHDMyTT
— Abhishek (@AbhishekSay) March 24, 2024
We found another tweet in which a user shared an image of the two women in the same attire as in the viral video, sitting on the floor of the train.
Seems real, pic from other angle pic.twitter.com/FMcYurMxwJ
— Ananth (@Ananth04) March 24, 2024
The above findings make it clear that the viral video in the Delhi metro is not deep fake but a real video created by two Instagram video creators Preeti Mourya and Km Vineeta.
Hence, the suggestion that the viral video is a deep fake is false. The video is real featuring two video creators and has been shot inside Delhi metro.
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