Video of a woman dancing to a Bollywood song viral as actress Waheeda Rehman

The woman in the viral video is Sunila Ashok, a former teacher and a passionate dancer, not actress Waheeda Rehman

 

A video of an elderly woman dancing to the Bollywood song ‘Aaj phir jeene ka tamanna hai’ rapidly went viral on social media in the name of Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman, performing after receiving the Dada Saheb Phalke award.

The caption states, “At her age of 85, Waheeda Rehman is dancing with same grace and elegance. Congratulations to an awesome actress for richly deserved Dada Sahib Phalke award”

 

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Fact Check

We began our investigation using keyword and reverse image search on Google and the results led us to the same dance video uploaded on YouTube on 2 January, 2022. This was uploaded by a channel named ‘Mayookha’ run by Sunila Ashok. The video was titled “Mayookha – Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai (Dance Cover)” 

 

Keeping this in mind, we checked Sunila Ashok’s Instagram page ‘mayookha_sunila  and found that the same dance was uploaded on her account on 26 September. The caption stated that she was misidentified as Waheeda Rehman in this dance video.

In a pinned post addressing the video, she stated, “Woke up this morning to a flurry of messages from my family & friends. My video for ‘Aaj phir jeene ki Tamanna hai’ seems to have gone viral as Waheeda Rahman’s dance video! I am greatly honoured to be compared to her and I am overwhelmed with all the love and appreciation I am getting from my viewers”. 

 

We also found a video shared by Sunila Ashok on her Instagram page about a reality show called Superstar after Retirement by Bajaj Allianz Life. The video showed Sunila talking about how she resumed dancing after her retiring from her job of teaching.

Veteran actor Waheeda Rehman, who ruled the silver screen in the 1960s and 1970s, was in the news recently when she was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema.

 

Waheeda Rehman

Taking account of all these evidences we can clearly understand that it is Sunila Ashok in the viral dance video, not the acclaimed actress Waheeda Rehman. 

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The woman in the viral video is Sunila Ashok, a former teacher and a passionate dancer, not Bollywood actress Waheeda Rehman.