Fact Check: This clip is not from SRK's ‘Jawan’ event in Chennai

A viral video purports to show a crowd gathered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to see Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan. A sea of people cheering could be seen in the video. The archived version of one such post can be seen here.

Khan visited Chennai for the audio launch event of his upcoming film “Jawan”, which is set to release on September 7, 2023. The event took place at Sri Sai Ram Engineering College on August 30 and Khan was joined by actor Vijay Sethupathi and filmmaker Atlee among others.

India Today found that the viral video, however, was not from his Chennai visit at all. The clip dates back to 2011 and shows the crowd that came to see Khan in Patna, Bihar when the actor visited the city to promote his movie “Don 2”.

Our Probe

Reverse searching frames from the viral video led us to the official YouTube channel of Excel Entertainment, the film production house founded by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar. There, the video was shared on December 22, 2011, with the title: “Don Fans In Patna”. The description further added, “The Don cast and crew are welcomed by a huge crowd of excited fans.”

In the video’s comments section, one person wrote, “It's outside Hotel Maurya at historical Gandhi Maidan in Patna. I was one of them. The legend of King Khan rocks... KING is back.”

On December 23, 2011, Khan’s film “Don 2”, directed by Farhan Akhtar, had its theatrical release in India. We ran a keyword search related to the film’s promotion in the city. We found several other videos of the crowd from the event. They can be seen here and here.

Further, in the responses to the viral post, we found a tweet claiming that this video was from Patna, pointing out that Biscomaun Bhawan was visible in the video. The Biscomaun Bhawan is one of Patna’s tallest buildings and a prominent landmark.

Using Google Maps, we discovered that the Maurya Hotel and the Biscomaun Bhawan are in the same area. According to news reports about the visit, Khan and his team cancelled their visit to Dubai to meet his fans in Patna. Reportedly, thousands of fans gathered outside the hotel at the JP roundabout on the cold December morning. The Google Street View of the hotel and the roundabout can be seen below.

Using keywords, we also found a photo on Alamy of Khan from this day with the Biscomaun Bhawan clearly visible in the background.

Glimpses from the audio launch event of “Jawan” conducted in Chennai on August 30 at Sri Sai Ram Engineering College can be seen here.

Thus, it is abundantly clear that the video of the crowd waiting for Shah Rukh Khan is not from Chennai, but from Patna, Bihar, and over a decade old.