1 year ago
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A set of images of Telugu actress Sanjjanaa Galrani with her family is viral with false claims that she embraced Islam and married a Muslim after watching the film 'The Kerala Story'. The claim further states that Galrani has gone for the holy Hajj pilgrimage after she converted to Islam and got married.
BOOM found the claims to be misleading as Galrani has been married to her husband Azeez Pasha since 2020 and the couple has a son named Alarik Pasha together.
In a tweet, Dr Shoaib Jamai, national spokesperson and chairman of the Indian Muslim Foundation, wrote, "Happy outcome of #TheKeralaStory. After watching the film, South films actress Sanjana Galrani accepted #Islam and married Aziz Pasha and went on Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Sanjana said that she is living a happy life now and her heart is at peace. B - Wave of mourning in Mandaliya. Whereas The Kerala story's co-actress Debolina Bhattacharya writes about her husband Shahnawaz Shaikh that marrying him was the best decision of her life. He is very happy."
(Original tweet text in Hindi: #TheKeralaStory के सुखद परिणाम। फिल्म देखने के बाद साउथ फिल्मों की एक्ट्रेस संजना गलरानी ने #इस्लाम कुबूल करके #अजीज पाशा ने निकाह किया और सऊदी अरब हज यात्रा पर गई। संजना ने कहा की वो अब सुखी जीवन जी रही है और दिल को सुकून है। B - मंडलीय में शोक की लहर।)
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The claim further amplifies misinformation about television actress Devoleena Bhattacharjee which states that she worked as a supporting actor in The Kerala Story. BOOM had fact checked the same earlier.
The Kerala Story, released on May 5, has hit headlines for controversial and questionable statistics on religious conversion of women from Kerala. The film was initially banned in the states of West Bengal and unofficially boycotted in Tamil Nadu. In a fact check, BOOM also found that the film's claim that 32000 women from Kerala went missing did not add up.
Fact Check
BOOM went through Galrani's Instagram account and found that an image used by the user to claim that she has gone for the Islamic pilgrimage Hajj has been cropped. The original photograph features Galrani's son Alarik Pasha.
Galrani has also uploaded several photographs and short videos of her son on her Instagram account. Here is Galrani's son's account.
According to an Indian Express report, Galrani was set to perform her first Umrah in Mecca this year.
An excerpt from the report reads, "Sanjjanaa, who was born into a Hindu family, converted to Islam a few years back and married a doctor named Aziz Pasha." Galrani also posted a video of her spiritual journey with her husband and son.
