Sonam Wangchuk has a cheeky response to Aamir Khan's claim that he did not know the activist when 3 Idiots was being made. Sonam has now pointed to an old video of the two meeting and joked that Aamir may have forgotten the encounter because he was dressed as his Ghajini character at the time.
The Ladakhi activist made the remark while speaking to YouTuber Prakhar Gupta on his podcast. His comments come after his hunger strike at the student protest.
The exchange began after Aamir addressed the longstanding belief that the character Phunsuk Wangdu in 3 Idiots was inspired by Sonam Wangchuk. The actor said that he was not aware of Sonam when the Rajkumar Hirani directorial was being made. He also said that neither Rajkumar Hirani nor writer Abhijat Joshi knew about the activist at the time.
Soam Wangchuk, however, says there was an interaction between them. Referring to a viral video that shows Aamir at an event where Sonam was present, he took a dig at 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 Ghajini reference comes from Aamir's look for the 2008 film. The actor played Sanjay Singhania in the movie, a character who suffers from short-term memory loss and can retain new memories only briefly.
Soam Wangchuk went on to say that their meeting was not just a quick introduction. According to him, 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)."
Sonam Wangchuk also offered some clarity on the 3 Idiots debate. He said he would not describe the film as a direct recording of his life or a biography. Instead, he sees his interaction with Aamir as a possible source of influence.
According to the activist, Aamir could have taken some of the ideas discussed during their meeting, spoken about them with his team and later developed them differently for the film. He also suggested that the rest of the team may not have known where those ideas came from.
"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)."
Aamir Khan's earlier comments had come at an event, where he called the idea that Phunsuk Wangdu was based on Sonam Wangchuk a misconception.
