Claim: A viral video includes two clips from Pakistani TV dramas where the actors are kissing.
Fact: The video features content doctored, possibly through artificial intelligence (AI). The actual footage taken from existing dramas does not show any of the actors kissing.
On 21 December 2024, Facebook user ‘Parveen Baig’ posted (archive) a video showing Pakistani actors kissing live on TV. The artists seen in the viral clips are Durefishan Saleem, Bilal Abbas, Hiba Bukhari, and Danish Taimoor.
The accompanying caption reads as follows:
“یہ پاکستانی ڈرامہ انڈسٹری کو کیا ہوگیا فحاشی اور عریانی کے نیو ریکارڈ توڑ رہی ہے کدھر ہے پیمرا کدھر ہے قانون
[What has happened to the Pakistani drama industry? It is making new records for obscenity and nudity. Where is PEMRA? Where is the law?]”
PEMRA refers to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority.
This is not the first time Pakistanis in the public sphere, particularly women, have been targeted in this manner. In the past, Soch Fact Check has debunked false claims, accompanied by doctored videos, about Meena Majeed, an MP in the Balochistan Assembly, and Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari, as well as a clip wrongly claiming that TV anchors kissed live on TV.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first identified some telltale signs of manipulation through AI in the video.
In the first clip, Bilal Abbas’ face appears to turn towards Durefishan Saleem too quickly, causing his tie to move unnaturally, as if it was being dragged. Then there’s a moving hand on top of their heads — possibly of a fellow actor or a crew member — that appears distorted and collapses on itself towards the right edge of the frame.
In the second clip, there’s a sudden jump just before the two actors kiss, suggesting digital manipulation. Danish Taimoor’s head also seems to move unnaturally fast at the same time.
A reverse-search of the keyframes from the two clips revealed that both are from two separate TV dramas: Hum TV’s “Ishq Murshid” and Geo Entertainment’s “Jaan Nisar.”
Keyframes from the first clip led us to two videos on YouTube that appear to be behind-the-scenes footage from “Ishq Murshid”; the specific scene can be viewed at the 0:16 mark in the first one and at the 0:11 and 0:40 marks in the second.
Through this, we were able to trace the original video back to Hum TV’s official Instagram account where it was posted on 4 May 2024. Nowhere in the BTS footage do the actors kiss.
As for the second clip, the reverse image search tools led us directly to the 28th episode of Geo Entertainment’s drama, “Jaan Nisar,” which premiered on 6 July 2024 on its YouTube channel called Har Pal Geo.
Soch Fact Check was able to locate the matching scene at the 1:58 mark in the episode. Again, in this original scene, Taimoor and Hiba Bukhari do not kiss.
Therefore, we conclude that the viral video has been altered through digital manipulation tools, most likely AI, using authentic footage that did not feature the kisses originally.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim circulating here, here, and here on Facebook.
On X (formerly Twitter), it was shared here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video includes doctored content that was created through digital manipulation tools, likely AI. The actual footage from existing dramas does not show any of the actors kissing.
Background image in cover photo: Jonas Leupe
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