Activist, educator, and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk has finally responded to actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan’s claim that his popular character of Phunsukh Wangdu, from Rajkumar Hirani’s 2009 blockbuster comedy 3 Idiots, wasn’t modelled on him. Aamir’s claim came only a couple of days after his 3 Idiots co-star Omi Vaidya confirmed on social media that Wangdu was based on Wangchuk. But Aamir, clarifying that Vaidya is “wrong”, claimed he, Hirani, and co-writer Abijat Joshi didn’t even know Wangchuk till then. Aamir’s claim was followed by an old video of him meeting Wangchuk much before the release of 3 Idiots resurfacing on the internet.

Addressing Aamir’s claim, Wangchuk quipped that the actor may have suffered a “short-term memory loss” after their meeting. “In the videos that resurfaced, he was watching my speech in his Ghajini outfit. Maybe because he was in the Ghajini outfit, he may have encountered short-term memory loss. He may have forgotten our meeting after 15 minutes. So, I’m not surprised,” Wangchuk said on Prakhar Gupta’s podcast.

Sonam Wangchuk also shared that he not only met Aamir Khan back then, but also had a “detailed meeting” with him. “They say he gets too immersed in his characters. So, maybe he was too immersed in the Ghajini character when he saw me receive an award at an award function he also attended. Otherwise we discussed a lot of ideas,” added Wangchuk.

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However, Wangchuk clarified that he can’t claim that Phunsukh Wangdu was completely modelled on him. “That’s what we call an influence or an inspiration, right? Maybe he went with all those ideas to his writers and changed the script. There was already a script. Maybe he did it subconsciously, and maybe the writers didn’t know where it came from. I don’t have any issue with that, whatever the case may be,” added the activist, laughing.

VIDEO | Actor Aamir Khan says 3 Idiots was not inspired by Sonam Wangchuk and expresses concern over his health, saying, “I hope he ends his fast.”

On Thursday, Aamir Khan made a special appearance at the closing of the London Indian Film Festival for the screening of Lagaan,… pic.twitter.com/28fxr2Z8q1

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3 Idiots starred Aamir Khan as Phunsuk Wangdu, a renowned educator and environmentalist based out of Leh, Ladakh, just like Sonam Wangchuk, whose identity is kept secret right till the climax. Prior to that, he doubles up as Rancho, the son of his father’s former employer, who’s bright enough to secure an engineering degree from a premium Indian institute as his proxy.

Co-written and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the film also starred Kareena Kapoor, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Mona Singh, Ali Fazal, and Jaaved Jaffrey, among others. It amassed over Rs 460 crore at the worldwide box office. The makers are reportedly planning to make a sequel to the film, with the original star cast reprising their roles.