Planning To Lodge A Complaint: Anup Soni Condemns His Deepfake Video On IPL Betting

Actor Anup Soni has recently raised an alarm regarding one of his deepfake videos doing the rounds of the internet. This fraudulent video falsely promotes Indian Premier League (IPL) betting by manipulating clips from the popular show Crime Patrol, in which Soni serves as the host. The creators of the video used artificial intelligence (AI) technology to change Anup Soni’s voice, urging users to take part in betting through a Telegram group. In the manipulated video, Anup Soni’s voice, created by AI, can be heard promoting betting activities, citing fictitious people and their alleged successes in cricket predictions. To make the video sound authentic, the video cleverly compiles real-life clips from Crime Patrol. This enhances its credibility to deceive unaware viewers. The Gangaajal actor promptly criticised the deepfake video and emphasised its fraudulent nature in an interview with a media portal.

Anup Soni said, “I plan to lodge a complaint with the Cyber Crime cell. For now, I have asked people to report the video, so that the platform is notified and takes necessary action.” He goes on to add, “Something like this can tarnish my image. Today, you can dub anything and that is scary … not only for me, but for any actor because our voices are identifiable.”

The video’s widespread circulation emphasises the urgent need for steps to prevent the spread of misinformation and protect individual’s digital identities.

What is deepfake?

Deepfake is multimedia content (image or video), wherein a person’s face or body is modified to appear as a different person.

Anup Soni continues his professional endeavours, with his last appearance in the film Mirg written and directed by Tarun Sharma. Raj Babbar, the late Satish Kaushik, Suhani Popli and Shwetaabh Singh also acted in Mirg. In an exclusive interview with IndiaToday.in, he opened up about this film. The 49-year-old actor said that his character has a very interesting name, that is Bulldozer Bhai. As per Anup, the characteristics of his actor are all about doing illegal things in life, but he’s happy doing them for someone else. He added, “He is loyal to his master. If his master says, ‘Kidnap this guy or kill this guy’, he’ll do it happily.”