Fake pic of Nita Ambani drinking most expensive water priced at ₹44 lakh goes viral

New Delhi: A morphed photo of philanthropist and chairperson of the Reliance Foundation Nita Ambani is being shared across social media platforms to claim that she drinks the most expensive bottled water in the world, called Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani. The photograph is being shared with either a photo of Ambani herself or a photo of the product.

However, we found that the photo was morphed. The original photo, taken in 2015, shows Ambani at an IPL cricket match between Reliance-owned Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. In the original photo, Ambani is seen drinking from a regular disposable plastic bottle.

While we were unable to find credible sources about Nita Ambani's water consumption preferences, we were able to confirm that the photo shared in the claim was altered.

CLAIM

The photo is being shared with the claim that Nita Ambani consumes the world's most expensive bottled water, called Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani.

It was shared by an Instagram page called 'Curly Tales', where the post received nearly 8,900 likes before being taken down.

Many websites also carried the photo, crediting the information to 'Zoom News'. Moreover, the image was also used as a thumbnail for a few YouTube videos.

WHAT WE FOUND

Upon using 'Nita Ambani Water Bottle' as keywords for an image search on Google, we came across a result on 'Bollywood Mantra', which showed Ambani holding a disposable plastic water bottle.

While the website hosting the photo did not show a clear result, an archived version of the site clearly shows Ambani drinking water from a bottle which is not the one in the claim.

In this photo, Nita Ambani is seen seated with her son Akash Ambani and former cricketer Anil Kumble.

We compared this photo to the one being shared in the claim, and found many similarities which helped us determine that the photo was edited to include the 'Acqua di Cristallo...' bottle of water.

In both photos, a beige watch and a red thread are visible on one of Ambani's hands, while a blue band can be seen on the other one. In the viral image, a blurred object can be seen on the bottom-right corner, which is visible as a hand in the original photos.

Further, we found a photograph similar to the original one uploaded to photo hosting website Sportzpics, which noted that it was taken during the first match of the 2015 edition of the Indian Premier League on 8 April 2015.

We then contacted Reliance for a comment, where a source confirmed to The Quint that the viral photo was fake.

The bottle of water seen in the claim, Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani, was designed by one Fernando Altamirano, as a tribute to Italian artist Amadeo Modigliani's 'Head of a Woman' sculpture.

According to Guiness' World Records' website, Acqua Di Cristallo is the most expensive bottle of water sold at an auction, at the price of $60,000 (approximately 44.6 lakh rupees).

The company's official website states that the bottle was a one-of-a-kind creation that was made as a limited edition item.

Clearly, an old photograph of Nita Ambani drinking bottled mineral water Aquafina was edited to claim that it showed her drinking Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani, which is considered to be one of the most expensive bottles of water in the world.