Just a day after social media went berserk over a claim that Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had appeared in movies as a child actor, the former diplomat recently clarified that he simply “played along” the prank “for fun” with film writer Vaibhav Vishal on April Fools Day.

Uploading a black and white photo from the 1958 film ‘Jailor’ on Twitter, Vishal claimed, “While @ShashiTharoor never was in Andaz Apna Apna, he did act in movies as a child star. His screen name was Master Gyaan, and he did 9 Hindi and Malayalam films. Attaching a still from Jailor with Geeta Bali.”

“Today was just the right day to revisit this picture. Go, Shashi,” he wrote on Friday. 

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Playing along, Tharoor responded, “And I had tried to keep it secret all along! Good sleuthing @ofnosurnamefame ! Btw I am still known as Master Gyaan.”

Reacting to the image, several Twitter users found similarities between Tharoor and the child actor, including their jackets and hairstyles. 

Some internet users also pointed out that the film was released in 1958, two years after Tharoor’s birth. 

After the image went viral, Vishal clarified the joke on Twitter.  

 “Sorry to burst everybody’s bubble here, but you guys were, well, April fooled. Politics is the best acting @ShashiTharoor does, and he does a phenomenal job of it, but outside of that, he never has acted in any movies. PS: Master Gyaan he definitely is,” the film writer said on Saturday. 

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Tharoor also responded, “For all those folks who took this exchange seriously: It’s a joke! He is pulling my leg and I am playing along for fun. See yesterday’s date!”

This isn’t the first time that Shashi Tharoor has been associated with a character in a movie. A picture from the 1994 film ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ often leaves viewers confused, who think that the Congress MP makes an appearance during a bus scene, as a man sitting behind Salman Khan and Aamir Khan.