Actor Shalini Pandey, best known for Arjun Reddy, has publicly denied any connection to an explicit video circulating online that appears to show her topless, calling it an AI-generated fake and appealing to people not to spread it further. In a note posted on Instagram, Pandey addressed the video directly and said it did not depict her. “I want to address a fake AI-generated video of me that is currently being circulated online. The video is completely fabricated and does not depict me,” she wrote.
Pandey said it was disturbing to see technology being used in this way, particularly against women, and strongly condemned the misuse of AI. “I strongly condemn this kind of abuse and believe this kind of misuse of technology should never be normalised. If you come across this video, please do not share, forward, download, or engage with it. Instead, please report it immediately,” she wrote. She also urged users to act responsibly and help stop the circulation of the fake rather than giving it further reach.
Here’s her post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcsvwcTPkwK
What Is a Deepfake, in Plain Terms?
A deepfake is synthetic or manipulated media — usually video, audio or images — created with artificial intelligence to make a person appear to say or do something they never actually said or did. In one common form, a person’s face is taken from real photographs or videos and digitally placed onto another person’s body, creating footage that can appear authentic. More advanced tools can now generate entirely synthetic video or clone a person’s voice from short samples. What once required specialised software and significant technical expertise has become far more accessible through consumer-facing generative AI tools, making realistic manipulation easier and faster. That accessibility has also made deepfakes more difficult to dismiss as a niche technological problem. They can now be used for impersonation, fraud, political misinformation, harassment and non-consensual sexualised content.
Why Women Public Figures Are Especially Vulnerable
Actors and other women in public life face a particular risk from this kind of abuse. The first reason is the sheer amount of visual material already available online. A well-known actor may have thousands of high-quality photographs, interviews, film clips and social-media videos that can potentially be used to train or assist generative tools. The second is the way the technology is frequently weaponised. Research and monitoring of online deepfake abuse have consistently found that women are disproportionately targeted by non-consensual sexualised synthetic media. Unlike political deepfakes, which are often designed to mislead audiences about what a public figure supposedly said or did, sexualised deepfakes can be used to humiliate, harass, intimidate or attract attention by exploiting a woman’s likeness without her consent. The harm does not disappear simply because the content is fake. Once such material begins circulating, the person targeted can be forced to publicly deny something they never created, while copies can continue spreading across accounts, messaging platforms and websites.
This Isn’t a New Problem in Indian Cinema
Shalini Pandey is far from the first Indian celebrity to be targeted by manipulated AI-generated content. Rashmika Mandanna’s case in 2023 became one of India’s most widely discussed deepfake incidents after her face was digitally placed onto a video originally featuring another woman. Delhi Police later arrested an engineering graduate in connection with the case. Police said he had created the manipulated video in an attempt to increase engagement and followers on a fan page. The incident helped push the deepfake debate into the national conversation and prompted wider concern over the misuse of generative AI.
Around the same period, Katrina Kaif was targeted by an altered image linked to a scene from Tiger 3, while manipulated videos using Alia Bhatt’s likeness also circulated online. Deepika Padukone has likewise been named in reports concerning manipulated content using celebrity images. Not every deepfake involving a public figure has been sexual in nature. Ranveer Singh and Aamir Khan were both targeted by AI-manipulated political videos in which they appeared to make statements they had not actually made. Both actors approached the police over the content. Sachin Tendulkar also faced a similar form of misuse when a fake video used his likeness to promote an online gaming or betting-related platform and falsely suggested his daughter used it. “These videos are fake. It is disturbing to see rampant misuse of technology,” Tendulkar said at the time, while urging users to report manipulated content. More recently, actor Mrunal Thakur has also spoken out against fake content using her likeness, calling such misuse illegal and unacceptable and warning of legal action.
Deepfakes Are No Longer Just a Celebrity Problem
Celebrity cases receive the most attention because the people involved are immediately recognisable. But the same tools can be used against people who have no public profile at all. A few publicly available photographs or videos can be enough to create manipulated sexualised imagery, fake voice recordings or impersonation material. That means the larger issue is not simply whether audiences can identify a deepfake. It is also about consent, privacy and the ease with which someone’s face, voice or identity can now be used without permission. Women are particularly vulnerable when synthetic media is used to create sexually explicit or intimate content they never participated in. In such cases, the technology may be new, but the underlying harm — harassment, humiliation and violation of consent — is not.
What to Do if You Come Across Content Like This
Do not share, forward, download or engage with it.
Even outrage-sharing can give manipulated material additional reach.
Report the content directly on the platform.
Major social-media platforms provide reporting mechanisms for impersonation, manipulated media and non-consensual intimate content.
If you are the person targeted, preserve evidence before the material disappears.
Screenshots, URLs, account names and timestamps may be useful if you decide to file a complaint.
Report the matter through India’s National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal or your local cyber police.
Complaints involving online abuse, impersonation and sexually explicit material can be reported through cybercrime.gov.in.
Do not re-upload a fake simply to prove that it is fake.
Even well-intentioned attempts to debunk manipulated content can create additional copies and unintentionally increase its circulation. Pandey’s appeal was ultimately straightforward: do not give the fake more oxygen. And that may be one of the most important responses available to ordinary users. AI tools are becoming better at creating convincing synthetic content. But their reach still depends, in part, on what people choose to click, forward and amplify. The technology may create the fake. The audience can still decide whether to help it spread.
