Social media users have shared a video with the caption, “Rare footage of Great Freedom Fighter Veer Savarkar during his ‘Kala Pani Ki Saja” in Andaman Cellular Jail. This footage was captured by the BBC for a documentary during British Colonial rule in India.”
Multiple social media users have shared the claim, which can be viewed here and here.
Fact Check
Upon investigation, we found the claim to be misleading. A targeted keyword search brought us to a video on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s YouTube channel, uploaded on 14 August 2014. The video’s title stated, “Life of Shri Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.”
The YouTube video displayed the “Films Division” logo of the Government of India at the bottom right corner. Using this as a lead, we performed another keyword search, which directed us to a similar video on a YouTube channel, posted on 28 December 2013. According to the video’s description, “This Filmfare award-winning documentary was directed by Prem Vaidya for the Films Division of the Government of India. It was released in 1983, the birth centenary year of Savarkar.”
We further contacted the division, which further confirmed that the documentary starred the actors, not the real footage of Freedom Fighter Savarkar.
The Films Division website confirmed these documentary details. It was directed by Prem Vaidya and produced by the Films Division in 1983.
Conclusion
The claim circulating with the viral video is misleading. The footage is not a rare BBC recording of Veer Savarkar. In reality, the clip is from a 1983 documentary produced by the Films Division of the Government of India.
