Mumbai: The menace of deepfakes has surfaced once again.
So much so that Ranveer Singh took to microblogging site X on Friday to issue a clarification about a deepfake video which has taken Internet by storm.
The video in question, which has been shared on X and Instagram, shows the Bollywood superstar criticising the Central government with added AI-synthesised voiceover.
“Deepfake se bacho dostonnnn (Beware of deepfake, friends),” Ranveer wrote on X a short while ago.
The offending video is from Ranveer’s recent visit to Varanasi to take part in a Manish Malhotra fashion show, in which Kriti Sanon also participated.
Ranveer praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his vision in the original video. However, in the fake version, the actor is shown to be criticising rising unemployment under Modi’s rule.
Ranveer’s experience comes close on the heels of what Aamir Khan faced recently.
Based on a complaint over a deepfake video of Aamir, where he is seen promoting a political party, Mumbai Police registered an FIR earlier this week against an unidentified person.
The FIR was filed on Wednesday at Khar police station under IPC sections 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Information Technology Act.
The purported 27-second clip, which also seems to have been edited using AI technology, Aamir is seen talking about staying away from rhetoric (jumla).