Amitabh Bachchan loses temper over a fake video praising Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Amitabh Bachchan has distanced himself from a YouTube video that makes the actor sound like endorsing BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as India’s next prime minister. “Fake!! Fake!! Fake!!! Appalled and angered by this illegal act on me...putting it up now, do read and see and condemn,” Amitabh Bachchan tweeted in capital letters on Thursday.

The video used Bachchan’s voice, originally used in a Times of India ‘Lead India’ campaign in 2007, along with a different set of visuals to make it appear that he supports Modi as the next prime minister. Bachchan called it a blatant misuse and infringement of his rights under the Copyright Act, and sought action against the perpetrator.

“(I am) infuriated and angered,” he tweeted. The Gujarat chief minister, too, asked for the video to be removed from YouTube. “Agree with @ SrBachchan. The author of the fake video should take action immediately and apologise to Amitabh ji,” he tweeted.

Many fans and supporters retweeted the tweets of Amitabh Bachchan, who promotes Gujarat as a tourism destination on several media platforms.

“Somebody has made a fake video by using my voice and text of what I spoke in the original, and falsely and mischievously, interspersed it with visuals which indicate a campaign for the promotion of the Hon Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi,” Bachchan tweeted.

Brand consultant Santosh Desai said there is a general assumption that Bachchan supports Modi because he is the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism, and that the actor is well within his rights to dispel any such assumption.

Bachchan himself tested political waters back in 1984 when, contesting on Congress ticket in support of family friend Rajiv Gandhi, he beat former Uttar Pradesh chief minister HN Bahuguna in Allahabad by one of the highest victory margins in general election history. He, however, resigned after three years, calling politics a cesspool.