- Wednesday, April 30, 2025
By: Vibhuti Pathak
Prabhas’ upcoming film Fauji is caught in controversy as its leading lady, Imanvi, faces a massive backlash over her alleged Pakistani roots. The issue intensified after an old post resurfaced, reportedly shared from Imanvi’s Instagram handle, where she wished Pakistanis on Independence Day. This revelation comes after Imanvi issued a statement claiming she is an “Indian American” amid widespread trolling and boycott calls against the film following the recent Pahalgam terror attack.
Fauji, which stars Prabhas in the lead, had already faced criticism for casting an actress with alleged Pakistani links during a time when sentiments against cross-border collaboration are at an all-time high. Although Imanvi attempted to clarify her identity with a long note stating that she is of Indian American descent, the resurfacing of her old post has further fueled skepticism and anger online.
While Imanvi Father was not in Pakistan military, but her Dad is from Pakistan.
As #PakistanbehindPahalgam
massacre , we #Prabhas fans urge @hanurpudi & @MythriOfficial to replace Fauji heroineOut blood bleeds for India 🇮🇳, and it’s not acceptable to have her as Heroine in… pic.twitter.com/6bKppBjTDf
— Ravi @ Prabhas Army (@RaviPrabhas333) April 25, 2025
In the now-viral post, Imanvi allegedly shared a photo showing her parents, with her mother posing next to the Indian tricolour and her father alongside the Pakistani flag. The caption reportedly read, “Happy Independence Day as my mother was from India and my father from Pakistan. I was blessed to be exposed to the cultures, languages and traditions of both beautiful countries.” This post directly contradicts her recent claims of a purely Indian American background, causing many netizens to accuse her of hiding her real roots to avoid backlash.
Adding to the outrage, several users pointed out that Imanvi once had a Pakistani flag emoji in her Instagram bio, which she reportedly removed after gaining attention from Indian audiences. One user commented, “Sis had a Pakistani flag in her bio before, she removed it after she started getting viewership from Indian audiences,” suggesting a deliberate PR strategy to reframe her image.
Despite Imanvi’s latest efforts to dismiss the accusations as “fake news,” netizens remain unconvinced. Many have flooded her social media with comments calling her out for allegedly lying about her background. The backlash hasn’t spared Prabhas either, with fans criticizing the Fauji team for allegedly attempting to mislead the public about the actress’s true heritage.
Calls to boycott Fauji have grown louder, with many demanding transparency and questioning the film’s casting choices given the sensitive political climate. The controversy is proving to be a major hurdle for the movie even before its release.
While Imanvi has denied any links to the Pakistani military, as some rumors suggested, the surfacing of this old Independence Day post has severely dented her credibility among Indian fans. Whether or not this will have a lasting impact on Fauji‘s performance at the box office remains to be seen, but for now, the controversy shows no signs of dying down.
