DHARAMSHALA, April 17: The Tibetan national flag (banned in Tibet and China) was shown uncut and un-blurred in Rockstar at the Beijing International Film Festival yesterday.
According to the Indian newspaper The Hindu, “the decision to allow the screening of Rockstar with scenes uncut is likely to be more the result of an oversight by usually vigilant censors rather than a relaxing of policy.”
The uncut of Tibetan national flag in the Bollywood film comes as a surprise to Tibetans in and outside Tibet since the Chinese authorities hand down heavy sentences to anyone for possession and storing of the banned flag even in their mobile handsets.
The film with snow lion flag was released in India in 2011 amidst controversy with the Indian Censor Board ordering the director either to blur or remove shots of the flag. This had led to Tibetans protest against the Censor Board of India.
In the end ‘Tibet’ from ‘Free Tibet’ was blurred and the film was screened in India. The similar blur was in place in the film screened in Beijing though the national flag was full on.
