Sonam Wangchuk has responded with a joke to Aamir Khan’s claim that he did not know the Ladakhi activist when 3 Idiots was being made. Wangchuk pointed to an old video showing the two at the same event and suggested that Khan may have forgotten the meeting because he was dressed as his Ghajini character.
Wangchuk made the remark during a conversation with YouTuber Prakhar Gupta on his podcast. His comments came after his hunger strike during a student protest.
Sonam Wangchuk recalls meeting Aamir Khan
The discussion followed Aamir Khan’s comments on the long-running belief that the character Phunsuk Wangdu in 3 Idiots was inspired by Wangchuk. Khan said he was not aware of Wangchuk while the Rajkumar Hirani-directed film was being made. He also said that neither Hirani nor writer Abhijat Joshi knew about the activist at the time.
Wangchuk, however, said that he and Khan had interacted. Referring to a viral video showing Khan at an event where Wangchuk was present, he joked about the actor’s memory:
“Uss time jab unhone kaha ki hum toh mile bhi nahi the… Toh baad me kuch videos aaye jisme woh Ghajini outfit mein mere ek speech ko dekh rahe the. Shayad woh Ghajini outfit mein the toh short-term memory loss huwa hoga, 15 second me bhul gaye honge. Toh, mai hairaan nahi hoon. Warna bahot detail mein mile the hum (At the time, when he said that we had never even met, some videos later surfaced showing him watching one of my speeches while dressed in the Ghajini outfit. Perhaps he was so immersed in the Ghajini character that he suffered short-term memory loss and forgot about it within 15 seconds. So, I’m not surprised. Otherwise, we had met in great detail).
The reference to Ghajini relates to Khan’s appearance in the 2008 film. He played Sanjay Singhania, a character who suffers from short-term memory loss and can retain new memories for only a short period.
Wangchuk went on to stress that his meeting with Khan was more than a brief introduction. He said they spoke at length and discussed ideas:
“Humne suna hai na, woh apne character mein ghus jaate hai. Toh shayad Ghajini mein itne ghuse the ki jab woh award function me aaye, jisme main award le raha tha, woh bhi bhul gaye honge. Warna bahot detail mein mile, bahot ideas discuss kiye (We often hear that actors get so deeply into their characters. Maybe he got so immersed in Ghajini that when he came to the award function where I was receiving an award, he forgot that too. Otherwise, we had met at length and discussed several ideas).”
Wangchuk addresses the 3 Idiots inspiration debate
Wangchuk also clarified his position on the debate surrounding 3 Idiots. He said he would not call the film a direct account of his life or a biography. Instead, he described his interaction with Khan as a possible source of influence.
According to Wangchuk, Khan may have used some of the ideas discussed during their meeting, shared them with his team and later developed them differently for the film. He added that other members of the creative team may not have known the origin of those ideas.
“Unhone aisa hi daala hoga toh baaki ke jo unke co-writers ya directors hai unko nahi pata chala hoga ki yeh unhone apna aaj ka idea daala, kahi se aake, milke, baat karke daala. Isse mujhe koi farq nahi padhta hai. Jaane do (If he incorporated it this way, perhaps his co-writers or directors didn’t realise that he had brought in these ideas after meeting me and discussing them. It doesn’t bother me. Let it go).”
Khan’s earlier comments were made at an event, where he described the idea that Phunsuk Wangdu was based on Sonam Wangchuk as a misconception.
