Actor Chandu Salimkumar has come under social media scrutiny after sharing a set of photos wishing Kalyani Priyadarshan on her birthday, with fans trolling one particular image that appeared "unnatural".
The post, shared on Sunday to mark Kalyani's birthday, featured a series of pictures of the two along with an English caption. However, it was the final image in the set that caught the attention of users, with many pointing out inconsistencies and suggesting it looked artificially generated.
Chandu used the nickname "Kalpri" in his caption - a blend of the first syllables of Kalyani and her father Priyadarshan's names. The caption itself was a stylised English line adapted from the 1988 Malayalam film 'Chithram', directed by Priyadarshan and starring Mohanlal. In the film, the dialogue is delivered by Mohanlal's character to Ranjini's role.
While the first three images clearly show Chandu and Kalyani together, the final picture - depicting a birthday cake-cutting moment - raised eyebrows. Although the individuals appear to be wearing the same outfits and are placed in a similar setting, their facial features differ noticeably, leading many to suspect the use of artificial intelligence.
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Social media users were quick to react, with some joking that "people will say this is AI", while others claimed that the person in the final image bore a closer resemblance to Hollywood actor Michael B Jordan than Chandu himself. Cinematographer Jimshi Khalid also joined in, humorously commenting, "Chandu Jordan". Kalyani herself responded to the post with emojis.
Interestingly, Kalyani has previously revealed that she is a fan of basketball legend Michael Jordan, a detail some users linked to the resemblance debate sparked by the viral image.