Paresh Rawal is a very fine actor, but he does have a tendency to believe and share stuff that turns out to be hoaxes. Like his recent tweet about Jatayu. For the uninitiated, Jatayu is a mythological creature mentioned in the Ramayana. It is a half-man-half bird demi-god who vowed allegiance to Lord Rama and gave his life trying to save Sita from the clutches of Raavana. While Jatayu is no more, as per the legend, there have been several alleged 'sightings' of the creature over the times. Like there has been a video going in circulation since 2014 on social media about the Jatayu bird, which is basically a giant vulture. Fact Check: Video of Jatayu Bird From Ramayana Spotted in Kerala is Fake! Know Truth About Viral Clip of Andean Condor

The caption that comes with the video claims, "JATAYU, a Divine Bird of #Ramayana is very rarely seen. Recently the bird was sighted at Sadayamangalam forest in #Kerala where is a Jatayu Park. See this majestic Bird & its beautiful wingspan." Paresh Rawal had RTed this tweet with his caption, 'Majestic'! Paresh Rawal Was Not Paying Attention in Geography Class: Shashi Tharoor on Former BJP MP's India-Myanmar Border Claim.

Here's the tweet:

So what's the truth? Forget the bird being 'Jatayu', the video is not even taken in Kerala or even in India. It is actually from South America and the bird is really the Andean Condor, a South American bird in the New World vulture family with the claim of having the maximum wingspan.  The video was taken in 2014, where a Condor was freed into its natural environment after being treated in captivity for two years for injuries.

Here's the actual video:

Not just Paresh Rawal, even Union Minister and former television actress Smriti Irani retweeted the video with its fallacious claim. Though Irani had later deleted her RT, Rawal has yet to do the same. Which makes us wonder why do these celebs not bother to check the veracity of any such videos and claims, and fall for hoaxes. Deliberate or pure ignorance?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2020 04:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).