Actor Akshay Kumar took to social media on Tuesday to state that some videos of him suggesting that he is part of a film called ‘Maharishi Valmiki’ are “fake” and “AI-generated”. He also expressed concern that some media houses had fallen for the hoax and urged them to “verify and report only after authenticating the information.”

Recently, some pictures and videos were circulating on social media, showing Akshay dressed up as a saint and sporting a flowy beard. “I have recently come across some AI-generated videos of a film trailer showing me in the role of Maharishi Valmiki. I want to clarify that all such videos are fake and created using AI. What’s worse, some news channels decide to pick these up as ‘news’ without even verifying if these are real or morphed,” the actor posted on X.

“In today’s time, when misleading content is being produced at great speed through manipulative AI, I sincerely request media houses to verify and report only after authenticating the information,” he added.

The conversation around AI and morphed images is gaining traction in the Hindi film industry. Recently, at the trailer launch of Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, Janhvi Kapoor expressed her concerns over AI. “When I see on social media, there are so many AI images being circulated against my will. You and I can say it’s an AI image, but the common man will think, ‘Yeh toh yeh pehen ke pohonch gayi (She actually went out wearing this).’ I don't know what the protocol is for this,” she said during the event.

On the film front, Akshay’s Jolly LLB 3 is running in theatres and is faring well at the box office. Directed by Subhash Kapoor, the film also stars Arshad Warsi. The actor also has Priyadarshan’s Bhooth Bangla and Haiwaan in the pipeline.