New Delhi: A video allegedly showing a massive Maha Vikas Aghadi rally held at Mumbai’s BKC ground has gone viral on social media. It shows a spectacular drone shot of a huge crowd. Some people can also be seen standing atop a tower-like structure.
Sharing this video, an X user wrote, “Crowd throng MVA rally at BKC in Mumbai | Overview of the meeting recorded by drone”.
𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐕𝐀 𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐊𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐢 | Overview of the meeting recorded by drone. pic.twitter.com/ny0pEwJgLa
— MUMBAI NEWS (@Mumbaikhabar9) November 17, 2024
However, India Today Fact Check found that the video is of the huge crowd that had flocked Patna’s Gandhi Maidan for the trailer launch event of actor Allu Arjun’s upcoming film, Pushpa 2: The Rule.
Our probe
We observed that several X users responded to the viral post, claiming that the video is related to the trailer launch event of Pushpa 2: The Rule.
A quick keyword search led us to several news reports about this trailer launch event.
We came across a post on X featuring the viral video. As per the post, Gandhi Maidan was fully packed with fans who came to see Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna. In the post, it is also mentioned that the video is related to the trailer launch event of the film Pushpa 2: The Rule.
बिहार वालों ने तो एकदम गर्दा उड़ा दिया, अल्लू अर्जुन और रश्मिका मंदाना को देखने के लिए गांधी मैदान हाउस फुल हो गया 😍❤️@alluarjun @iamRashmika #Pushpa2 pic.twitter.com/tFQb8n7G4E
— छपरा जिला 🇮🇳 (@ChapraZila) November 17, 2024
A subsequent search led us to an 86-minute-long video uploaded to the YouTube channel YouWe Media, an event management company that organised the trailer launch event of Pushpa 2: The Rule.
Several keyframes of this video match with the viral video. A close-up shot of the stage, similar to the viral video, appears around the 6:50 mark. Similarly, at the 9:15 mark, people can be seen perched atop the tower-like structure. A comparison between the viral video and the video posted to the YouTube channel of YouWe Media can be seen below.
According to the news reports, a massive crowd gathered at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, Bihar on 17 November to see Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna during the trailer launch event of Pushpa 2: The Rule. Reports also mention some chaos at the event due to the overwhelming crowd.
Therefore, it is clear that the viral video is not from any election rally but from the trailer launch event of Pushpa 2: The Rule held in Patna, Bihar.
This story was originally published by India Today as part of the Shakti Collective. Apart from the headline, excerpt and introduction, this story has not been edited by ThePrint staff.