China hasn't captured Pangong Lake site where Indian movie ‘3 Idiots’ was filmed

What is the claim?

A set of two images—a scene from the 2009 Indian film '3 Idiots' and a photo of tourists by a lake—has been shared on social media with text claiming that China has captured Indian land where the movie was filmed.

A post on X (formerly Twitter) featured the image with the caption, “Two-thirds of Ladakh's Pangong Lake lies in China!” At the time of writing, the post had received 356,900 views and 2,900 likes.

Other posts on X and Facebook questioning the lack of media coverage and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of silence also circulated widely. Indian actor Richa Chadha shared the claim, writing, “This will be met with silence.” Archived versions of these posts can be found here, here, here, here, and here. 

Screenshots of viral posts circulating on social media. 
(Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Context

These claims surfaced amid recent statements by the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, at the National Press Club in the United States, where he criticized the Indian government over the India-China border standoff. Gandhi alleged that China had captured 4,000 square kilometers of Indian territory. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh dismissed this claim as “misleading and beyond facts” (archived here).

However, we found that the viral post is being shared with a misleading narrative, and there are no reports or official announcements indicating that China has recently captured the Indian land in question.

What did we find?

The scene from '3 Idiots' mentioned in the viral post was filmed at Pangong Tso Lake, a saltwater lake situated at nearly 4,350 meters above sea level and surrounded by a mountain range in eastern Ladakh.

The lake extends up to 160 km and crosses the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the India-China border. Google Maps shows that one-third of the lake lies in Leh Ladakh, India, while two-thirds are in China. The LAC near the lake is a disputed area where a military skirmish occurred in the Galwan Valley in 2020.

A screenshot of Google Maps showing the flow of Pangong Lake. (Source: Google Maps)

We geolocated the area where the '3 Idiots' scene was shot and confirmed it is in India and under Indian control. Our search for recent news reports about China taking control of the Indian side of Pangong Lake yielded no relevant results. 

A screenshot showing the 3 Idiots movie shooting location. (Source: Google Maps/Screenshot)

A travel video uploaded on YouTube (archived here) by the channel “Mahesh Backpacker” on September 8, 2024, shows the filming location with the Indian flag, a yellow scooter, and the famous chair from the movie. The lake became a popular tourist destination after the film’s release. 

Screenshot from a travel video uploaded by a vlogger, Mahesh Backpacker, showing the Indian national flag and yellow scooter. (Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

The second image of tourists on a boat is from a 2020 video shared on X by Indian National Congress (INC) member Saral Patel. The video made similar claims about Chinese tourists at Pangong Tso Lake. In reality, China opened its side (archived here) of Pangong Lake for tourism in 2020, so the visuals in the viral post are from the Chinese side, not the Indian side.

The verdict

While it is true that one-third of Pangong Lake is in India and two-thirds in China, there is no evidence that China recently captured any part of the Indian side, including the location where '3 Idiots' was filmed.