Did Yogi Adityanath Urge People Not To Watch Shah Rukh Khan's 'Pathan'?

An old video showing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath speaking about Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan is viral on social media with captions falsely claiming that the chief minister had advised people against watching the actor's upcoming film 'Pathan'.

BOOM found that the video is from 2015, and the claims are unrelated.

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The video is viral against the backdrop of the 'boycott Pathan' hashtag being trended on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

The viral video shows the chief minister speaking to media persons. He can be heard slamming Shah Rukh in Hindi. His words translate to 'Some Left-leaning alleged authors and artists have started raising anti-national voices now. Unfortunately, people like Shah Rukh Khan have also joined these voices. And this is not for the first time, he (Shah Rukh Khan) has acted like this in the past as well. Shah Rukh Khan should remember that if the majority community boycotts his films, he will have to wander the streets like an ordinary Muslim'.

(Hindi: इस देश के अंदर वामपंथी विचारधारा के कुछ कथित लेखकों और कलाकारों ने जिस प्रकार से अब भारत विरोधी स्वर - यानी कि अब भाजपा का नहीं बल्कि भारत विरोधी स्वर ही उठाना शुरू किया है दुर्भाग्य से उस स्वर के साथ शाहरुख़ खान जैसे लोगों के स्वर भी मिलें हैं और ये पहली बार नहीं हो रहा है इससे पहले भी इस प्रकार की हरकतें उनके द्वारा हुई हैं. शाहरुख़ खान को इस बात को याद रखना चाहिए कि अगर इस देश का बहुसंख्यिक समाज उनकी फ़िल्मों का बहिष्कार कर देगा तो एक आम मुसलमान की तरह उनको भी सड़कों पर भटकना पड़ेगा)

The video is viral from several handles with captions suggesting that the video is recent and the UP CM has urged people to not watch 'Pathan'.

A Facebook post shared the video with a Hindi caption translating to 'Baba ji's message for not watching Pathan. Baba ji has cooled down Shah Rukh Khan'.

(Hindi: शाहरुख खान की भी गर्मी शांत कर दी बाबा जी ने और पठान मूवी ना देखने के लिए बाबा जी का संदेश)

The video is viral from multiple Facebook pages and Twitter handles with similar claims.

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Fact Check

BOOM did a keyword search with 'Yogi Adityanath, Shah Rukh Khan and Hafiz Sayid' on YouTube and found several video reports carrying the same footage from 2015.

A report uploaded on the YouTube channel of wire agency Asian News International on November 4, 2015 with the headline 'Adityanath compares Shahrukh to Hafiz Saeed' has the exact same visuals as the viral video.

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The report makes it clear that the video is from the time when Yogi Adityanath was not the chief minister of UP. It further reads that the Bollywood actor had been 'attacked by Right Wing groups' for his comments against the intolerance in the country.

BOOM looked for news articles reporting the incident. A keyword search led us to several reports from 2015.

A news report published in the Hindustan Times on November 4, 2015 states that Yogi Adityanath's response was aimed at Khan speaking out in support of 'protest by writers and filmmakers against "rising intolerance" in the country'.

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A news report published in BBC on November 3, 2015 stated that the actor had come out in support of writers and artists returning their awards to protest against intolerance. Khan had said, "there is intolerance, there is extreme intolerance… there is, I think… there is growing intolerance," reported the BBC.