Sonam Wangchuk addressed Aamir Khan's denial regarding the inspiration behind the 3 Idiots character Phunsukh Wangdu.
Khan had refuted co-star Omi Vaidya's statement, asserting that he, director Rajkumar Hirani, and writer Abhijat Joshi were unaware of Wangchuk prior to the film.
Wangchuk humorously quipped that Khan might have suffered 'short-term memory loss' like his Ghajini character, referencing resurfaced footage of their pre-2009 meeting.
Sonam Wangchuk Reacts To Aamir Khan's They Never Met Before 3 Idiots Claim: 'Maybe He Had Short-Term Memory Loss'
The 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, grossed over ₹460 crore worldwide, with reports indicating a sequel is in development.
Summary
Sonam Wangchuk has responded to Aamir Khan’s claim that Phunsukh Wangdu in 3 Idiots was not influenced by his life. Aamir’s reaction came a couple of days after co-star Omi Vaidya’s social media post saying Wangdu was based on Wangchuk.
Aamir said Vaidya was "wrong" and insisted that he, director Rajkumar Hirani and co-writer Abijat Joshi had not known Wangchuk then. The debate drew fresh attention when footage of Aamir meeting Wangchuk before the 2009 film’s release recirculated on the internet.
Wangchuk takes a jibe at Aamir Khan
The activist on Prakhar Gupta’s podcast, joked that Aamir may have suffered "short-term memory loss" after meeting him.
“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 the podcast.
He said the resurfaced clips showed Aamir watching his speech while dressed in the style associated with Ghajini.
Detailed meeting claims
Wangchuk added that their interaction was more than a quick hello and described it as a detailed meeting.
“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,” Wangchuk said.
“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,” Wangchuk added.
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About 3 Idiots
3 Idiots featured Aamir Khan as Phunsuk Wangdu, a Leh-based educator and environmentalist whose profile resembles Wangchuk’s. In the film, Wangdu’s identity stays hidden until the climax.
Earlier, he is introduced as Rancho, the son of his father’s former employer, and wins an engineering degree from a leading Indian institute in his place.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra co-wrote and produced the movie, which also starred Kareena Kapoor, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Mona Singh, Ali Fazal and Jaaved Jaffrey, among others.
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