Aamir Khan says his character in ‘3 Idiots’ not based on Sonam Wangchuk: ‘Hoping that he ends his fast’

Published 17 July 2026 · local

Actor Aamir Khan opened up about educator and activist Sonam Wangchuk during the closing ceremony of London Film Festival on Thursday. The actor clarified that

Actor Aamir Khan opened up about educator and activist Sonam Wangchuk during the closing ceremony of London Film Festival on Thursday. The actor clarified that his character, Rancho from Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots is not based on Mr. Wangchuk. Aamir also expressed his concern about Mr. Wangchuk’s health amid his ongoing hunger strike. Aamir was present during the post-screening conversation of Lagaan at the festival where he was asked a question about the similarities between Mr. Wangchuk and Rancho. Responding to this, Aamir called it a misconception and said that he didn’t know about Mr. Wangchuk while doing the film. “I saw a video of Chatur (Omi Vaidya) just recently, and he said that. But he is wrong. Maybe that is what Chatur was thinking, but I want to tell you that neither Raju nor Abhijat (Rajkumar Hirani or Abhijat Joshi), who are the two writers, we didn’t know about Mr Sonam. However, what Mr. Sonam is doing is good work in any case. He doesn’t have to be based on a character of 3 idiots for us to respect him and the work that he does. I wanted to share this from a factual point of view,” Aamir said. The actor added, “All of us are very concerned for his health and his life. We hope it ends well.

All of us are hoping that he ends his fast.” Actor Omi Vaidya, who played Chatur in 3 Idiots, took to social media recently to talk about how Aamir’s character was inspired by Mr. Wangchuk. “Did you know that Funsukh Wangdu from 3 Idiots is actually based on a real-life Ladakhi engineer, innovator, educator and reformer named Sonam Wangchuk? I’ve met this guy. He’s a pretty interesting character. Right now he is on a very long hunger strike,” Vaidya was seen saying in the video that went viral online. Wangchuk has been observing an indefinite hunger strike since June 28 at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. Mr. Wangchuk’s health has been critical, however, he remained resolute saying that calling off his fast without any response from the government would send a wrong message. Instead, he urged people to strengthen the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) proposed Parliament march on July 20. Khan’s remarks are at variance with an account narrated by Mr. Wangchuk in a 2018 public talk, in which the education reformer said he had met the actor in 2008 at the CNN-IBN Real Heroes awards in Mumbai. According to Mr. Wangchuk, he discussed with Khan the idea of making a film on Siachen and a documentary on his work was screened during the event, where Khan was present.