Preity Zinta has strongly reacted to a set of doctored images showing her hugging Rajasthan Royals’ 14-year-old cricket prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The Bollywood actor and Punjab Kings co-owner took to social media to call out the viral image, slamming it as fake and expressing shock that news outlets are circulating it without verification.
Preity Responds To Viral Image
The controversy began after a video of Preity meeting Vaibhav during the Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals IPL match at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium surfaced online. The clip, originally posted by Rajasthan Royals’ official X (formerly Twitter) handle, shows Preity interacting with several players, including Vaibhav, in a light-hearted moment.
Soon after, morphed photos claiming to show Preity hugging the teen cricketer began to circulate, gaining traction on social media and even being picked up by some regional news channels. Reacting to one such news story, Preity reposted it on Instagram Stories with a firm denial: “This is a morphed image and fake news. Am so surprised now news channels are also using morphed images and featuring them as news items.”
She followed it up by reposting another similar link with the caption: “Fake news with morphed image.”
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What Actually Happened In The Video
In the original video, Preity is first seen chatting with Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal before expressing her desire to meet Vaibhav. She approaches him, has a short exchange, and they shake hands. At no point does the video show them hugging. The sweet clip was even soundtracked with the song ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ for added charm.
Preity’s Comeback To Films
On the work front, Preity Zinta is set to make her return to Bollywood with Lahore 1947, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and produced by Aamir Khan. The period drama stars Sunny Deol, Shabana Azmi, and Ali Fazal, and marks Preity’s first film since Bhaiaji Superhit (2018).