When Anushka Sharma told Madhavan he was 'duped' by AI
04 Feb 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) videos and deepfakes have tricked many, even fooling celebrities. One such victim was R Madhavan.

A video showed football star Cristiano Ronaldo allegedly praising Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. However, it was entirely fabricated using AI technology.

In an interview with Zee TV, Madhavan recalled how he was initially duped by the Deepfake video until Kohli's wife and fellow actor Anushka Sharma informed him of the hoax.

'Bhai, it's a fraud': Sharma alerted Madhavan about the video
AI deception

Madhavan recalled, "Yeah, in fact, one of the Reels that I saw had somebody praising Virat Kohli to high heavens. In fact, I think it was Ronaldo...how much he enjoyed watching Kohli bat and how much of a legend he thought he was."

"And I proudly forwarded that, I put it on Instagram and then I got a message from Anushka saying bhai (brother), it's a fraud, it's AI."

Madhavan expressed embarrassment over the incident
Lesson learned

The actor said he was embarrassed by the incident and stressed being careful while sharing information.

He said, "It's really embarrassing, like, oh! So even somebody like me who is pretty aware was completely taken away."

"And then, when she told me the flaws, I realized, arey haan (yes), ye to bada gadbad hain (this is an issue). So one has to be very careful that whatever you're forwarding is very credible."

Madhavan's recent and upcoming projects
Career update

In 2024, Madhavan starred as a villain in the horror film Shaitaan opposite Ajay Devgn and Jyotika.

His most recent appearance was in the ZEE5 film Hisaab Barabar, which explored bank scams.

The actor has a slew of films in his kitty in Tamil and Hindi. He will soon be seen in Tamil films Adhirshtasaali and Test, while his Hindi projects include Amriki Pandit, Aap Jaisa Koi, De De Pyaar De 2, Kesari Chapter 2 (tentatively titled), and Dhurandhar.