Times Now Uses 3 Idiots Shooting Point to Report on Chinese Side

Several reports have been claiming that the Chinese have opened their side of Pangong Tso lake for the tourists.

Times Now aired the visuals of the Indian side of Pangong Tso lake to claim that the Chinese have opened their side of the lake to tourists.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan

Several news reports have been claiming that the Chinese have opened their side of Pangong Tso lake for tourists, which is true, but Times Now in a rush to show “exclusive footage” used videos from the Indian side of the lake.

The visuals aired by Times Now are from the 3 Idiots shooting point on the Indian side of the Pangong Tso lake.

CLAIM

On 6 September, Times Now, aired visuals of Chinese opening Pangong Tso Lake for international tourists amid border tensions with India.

The anchor can be heard saying, “The Chinese side in the Pangong lake has been thrown open to tourists now and these are the visuals that we have acquired. They are, of course, being disseminated by China themselves.”

(Source: Times Now/ Screenshot)

The video tweeted by Times Now had garnered over 31,000 views at the time of publishing the article with many user sharing the visuals making the same claim.

You can view the archived version here.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

You can view the archived version here.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We came across a tweet shared by CGTN journalist mentioning that the part of Pangong Tso lake which is controlled by China, is open to tourists.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Pangong Tso is a 135 kilometre long lake and 45 kilometre long western portion is under India’s control.

But, are the visuals aired by Times Now from the Chinese-controlled side of the Pangong Tso lake? No, absolutely not.

VISUALS OF 3 IDIOTS SHOOTING POINT

‘3 Idiots’, a Bollywood film released in 2009, became a turning point for the tourism industry in Ladakh. The shooting of parts of the film led to a well established ‘3 Idiots shooting point’ which has recreated the film’s setting.

Now, the visuals aired by the channel are from this shooting point. Let’s see how.

1. THE THREE CHAIRS

Looking at the three chairs, one could guess that the setup is the same the one shown in the film 3 Idiots. We saw multiple vlogs uploaded on YouTube that showed the shooting point at the Indian side of the lake.

Left: Times Now visuals. Right: 3 Idiots shooting point.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

2. THE YELLOW SCOOTER WITH A FUNNEL-LIKE STRUCTURE

Another video uploaded on YouTube in March showed the same yellow scooter with a black funnel-like structure as seen in the visuals aired by Times Now.

Further, in the final scene of the film, actor Kareena Kapoor can be seen getting off from a similar yellow scooter.

Left: Times Now visuals. Right: 3 Idiots shooting point.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

3. THREE SIMILAR ELEMENTS IN A ROW

We also found an image uploaded on Alamy in 2017 mentioning that it is from the popular 3 Idiots spot. A comparison with the Times Now visuals showed three similar elements: yellow scooter, the chair trio and movie poster.

Left: Times Now visuals. Right: 3 Idiots shooting point.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Evidently, Times Now aired the visuals of the Indian side of Pangong Tso lake to claim that the Chinese have opened their side of the lake to tourists.

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