Fact Check: Photos Falsely Claiming Akshay Kumar Is Anupam Kher's Son Go Viral

Multiple social media users shared a collage of four photos featuring actor Anupam Kher. The fourth photo of him with actor Akshay Kumar carried the text claiming that the latter was his son. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the text on the photo made a false claim.

Claim

A Facebook user shared on April 12 a collage of four photos of actor Anupam Kher. The first two featured Kher, third of him with wife Kirron Kher, and the fourth one with Akshay Kumar with the text 'son'.

The caption of the post with over 186k views read, "80 और 90 के दशक पर बॉलीवुड पर राज करने वाले एक्टर अनुपम खेर को कौन नहीं जानता उन्होंने अपने एक्टिंग से लाखों करोड़ों बना लिए हैं आज हम आपको अनुपम खेर के कुछ पुरानी तस्वीर दिखाएंगे। अक्षय कुमार को अनुपम खेर अपना बेटे के समान मानते हैं  "

An English translation of the caption read, "Who does not know actor Anupam Kher, who ruled Bollywood in the 80s and 90s? He has made lakhs of crores from his acting. Today we will show you some old pictures of Anupam Kher. Anupam Kher considers Akshay Kumar like his son."

Here is the link and archive link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Investigation

Starting the investigation, the Desk ran the viral photo through Google Lens, and came across multiple Facebook posts, carrying the same photo and similar claim.

Two such posts can be viewed here and here and archive links can be viewed here and here, respectively.

The Desk further conducted a customised keyword search on Google and came across a report by Hindustan Times, published on October 31, 2023.

The title of the report read, "Anupam Kher pens birthday post for son Sikandar Kher, mentions Kirron Kher's wish: May you shave every alternate day"

Here is a link to the report and below is a screenshot of the same:

Taking a cue from this, the Desk scanned Kher's official Instagram account and found the same picture shared by him.

"Happy Birthday dearest Sikandar! You have grown to be a wonderful man! Confident, vulnerable, most of the time responsible, funnier of course and loving when you want! And a FANTASTIC actor! 😁😍 ! My wish for you - May God give you all the happiness in the world! May you have a long , healthy and peaceful life! May you shave every alternate day if not everyday and so on! Your mother's wish apart from all this - GET MARRIED! 😬! Love and prayers always! ❤️🙌🕉 @sikandarkher" read the caption of the post.

Here is the link and archive link and below is a screenshot of the same:

The Desk the conducted another advanced Google search, while looking for information on Akshay Kumar's family.

The IMDb website mentioned: "Rajiv Hari "Akshay Kumar" Om Bhatia was born on September 09, 1967, in Amritsar, Punjab to Aruna Bhatia and Hari Om Bhatia".

Here is the link to the IMDb page and below is a screenshot of the same:

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that Kher's photo with actor Akshay Kumar claiming to be his son was shared with misleading claim.

CLAIM

A photo of actor Anupam Kher with Akshay Kumar with the claim that the latter was his son.

FACT

Photo shared with text that makes a false claim.

CONCLUSION

Several social media users shared a photo of Anupam Kher with Akshay Kumar, with a text written on it claiming that Kumar was the former's son. In its investigation, the Desk found that the photo was shared with a false claim.

This story was originally published by PTI Fact Check, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective.