Javed Anwer, TNN | Aug 22, 2013, 01.57 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Late Wednesday night Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan distanced himself from a YouTube video that gave an impression that he endorsed BJP leader Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister of India.

Bachchan, who regularly tweets, posted on hisTwitter account, “FAKE !! FAKE !! FAKE !!! APPALLED AND ANGERED BY THIS ILLEGAL ACT ON ME .. PUTTING IT UP NOW, DO READ AND SEE AND CONDEMN .. !!!”

In his next tweet, which was made using TwitLonger to bypass Twitter’s 140-character limit, he explained the issue.

Bachchan said that someone had taken the voiceover he provided for a video in 2007 and used it with a different set of images to create a clip where it seemed that he was endorsing Modi. The video was uploaded from a YouTube account named ‘Jitega Bharat’. There is only one video that has been uploaded from this account.

“DEAR ALL … FAKE VIDEO CIRCULATION … In the year 2007, I did a Lead India campaign for The Times of India, where we talked of the glorification of the country and India,” he wrote. “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!!”

The actor added that he had alerted authorities about the video and would initiate action against the person who had created the fake and uploaded it on YouTube.

“I wish to state that this is an illegal act, inviting strong action, one that I am appalled by, and one that has no concurrence from me at all… I have brought this to the notice of the concerned authorities, and asked my Digital Team to find out its origin so that we can initiate action against the perpetrator. This is a blatant misuse and infringement of the Copyright Act, and needs to be condemned by all those that become a part of this platform,” he wrote. “(I am) infuriated and angered.”

The actor got support from his fans on Twitter as well as YouTube after he slammed the fake video. His tweets about the video were retweeted several hundred times. The digital team of Bachchan also singled out tweets condemning the video and retweeted them.

On YouTube, the video has been down-voted by fans of Bachchan and many users wrote in comments that the video should be removed by YouTube.

The actor seemed pleased with response. In the last tweet for the day Bachchan wrote, “Thank you all my Ef Sena !! Off to bed .. travel tomorrow !!

 

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