Ladakhi education reformer and activist Sonam Wangchuk has responded with a cheeky dig at Aamir Khan after the actor claimed he did not know Wangchuk when 3 Idiots was being made, writes NDTV.
Speaking to YouTuber Prakhar Gupta on his podcast, Wangchuk pointed to an old video showing Aamir at an event where he was present and joked that the actor may have forgotten their meeting because he was dressed as his Ghajini character at the time.
“Maybe he had short-term memory loss,” Wangchuk quipped, referring to Aamir’s character Sanjay Singhania in the 2008 film, who suffers from short-term memory loss.
The remark came amid the long-running debate over whether the character Phunsuk Wangdu in Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots was inspired by Wangchuk.
Aamir recently addressed the claim, saying he was unaware of Wangchuk when the 2009 film was being made.
He also said Hirani and writer Abhijat Joshi did not know about him at the time.
Wangchuk, however, recalled having a detailed interaction with Aamir at an award function where he was receiving an award.
“Otherwise, we had met at length and discussed several ideas,” he said.
He also clarified that he does not consider 3 Idiots a direct account of his life or a biography.
Instead, he suggested that some of the ideas he discussed with Aamir could have influenced the film after the actor shared them with his creative team.
“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,” Wangchuk said, adding that the matter does not bother him.
The activist’s comments add another light-hearted chapter to the long-running discussion surrounding the inspiration behind one of Bollywood’s most popular films.
