Several mainstream news outlets aired a video of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput dancing with actor and choreographer Manpreet Toor while misidentifying the latter as Rajput's niece Mallika Singh. The video shows Toor and the late actor playfully enacting steps of Madhuri Dixit from the song 'Chane Ke Khet Mein'.
Aaj Tak's editor in chief Anjana Om Kashyap tweeted the video with the caption, "Watch this video of Sushant Singh Rajput. The playfulness of maternal uncle and niece. Family's love. Sushant is dancing with his eldest sister Rani's daughter Mallika Singh." Click here to view an archive of the tweet.
सुशांत सिंह राजपूत का ये वीडियो भी देखिए। मामू-भांजी की मस्ती। परिवार का प्यार! सुशांत की सबसे बड़ी बहन रानी की बेटी मल्लिका सिंह के साथ नाचते गाते ! pic.twitter.com/bhFqRxemvQ
— Anjana Om Kashyap (@anjanaomkashyap) August 17, 2020
The footage was played in a bulletin of Aaj Tak as well, where Kashyap throws light on these videos which are being gradually released by the family in public domain to show that the family bonded well in contrary to reports of a strained relationship between Rajput and his sisters. In a statement, Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty has alleged that his sister Priyanka Singh tried to molest her earlier this year.
Rajput has four sisters; Mallika Singh is the daughter of the eldest sister Neetu Singh. The actor was found dead in his Bandra apartment on June 14. The Mumbai police prima facie ruled the death as a case of suicide.
The Aaj Tak bulletin can be watched here. In the description of the bulletin, the dancer is referred to as Rajput's niece.
In a tweet later Aaj Tak issued a correction.
CORRECTION- ये सुशांत और मनप्रीत तूर का वीडियो है। सुशांत की भांजी मल्लिका सिंह इसे रिकॉर्ड कर रही हैं। सुशांत अपनी फ़िल्म की शूटिंग के दौरान मल्लिका को अक्सर साथ ले जाते थे। ये अमृतसर में फिल्म राबता की शूटिंग के दौरान की मस्ती है।
— AajTak (@aajtak) August 18, 2020
'Rajput unwinding with his niece'
Apart from Aaj Tak, several media outlets including ABP News, The Times Of India and India Today ran the video misidentifying the dancer with Rajput as his niece. In the news bulletin titled Newsgram, the ABP News anchor ran the video and claimed that Rajput can be seen having fun with his niece. The bulletin was run on August 17, 4.04 pm onwards as Breaking News.
The article featuring the news bulletin has since been deleted. BOOM was able to access a cached version of the segment. Click here for the archive.
ABP News' Facebook post however still remains.
In an India Today bulletin on August 17, the same video is played with a similar narrative. News Nation also ran a similar segment questioning Rajput's death by suicide on the basis of the video. India TV's bulletin on the video can be seen here.
The digital verticals of The Times Of India and E Times ran the same video with the headline, "This unseen video of Sushant Singh Rajput dancing with niece Mallika Singh on Madhuri Dixit's 'Channe Ke Khet Mein' song will leave you nostalgic". E Times' Instagram post was picked up by news outlets including Yahoo Lifestyle and Patrika.com.
Video shows actor-choreographer Manpreet Toor
Several netizens commented on Kashyap's tweet stating that the video is of a choreographer Manpreet Toor. The video was filmed during the shooting of Rajput's film Raabta. Toor shared the same video and took a dig at the news outlets for erroneously using the clip to claim that she is Rajput's niece.
Additionally, Toor had shared a photograph with Sushant from the same day to express condolences after his death.
It is however unclear who shot the video. In a corrigendum, Aaj Tak stated that the video was filmed by Rajput's niece, Mallika Singh. We could not independently verify the same. BOOM has reached out to Singh and Toor for comments. The article will be updated as and when they respond.