Amidst Sonam Wangchuk’s Protest, Aamir Khan Makes a Strong Statement; Watch

Educator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is currently on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over severe irregularities, including paper leaks, in the NEET-UG medical entrance examination. 

Lately, 3 Idiots star Omi Vaidya, who essayed the character Chatur Ramalingam, took to his social media handle to share a video. Vaidya had publicly backed Wangchuk’s protest and repeated the claim that 3 Idiots’ Phunsukh Wangdu, portrayed by Aamir Khan, was based on the Ladakhi engineer. However, Aamir Khan clarified that neither he nor the film’s writers were aware of Sonam Wangchuk when the movie was being made.

3 Idiots not based on Sonam Wangchuk, Clarifies Aamir Khan

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 — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 17, 2026

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan finally took to social media to stop the rumour mill surrounding the 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots. Speaking at the London Indian Film Festival amid Wangchuk’s ongoing hunger strike, he shut down the long-standing belief that his iconic character, Phunsukh Wangdu (Rancho), was based on the life of Ladakhi innovator and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk. While setting the record straight factually, the actor extended his strong moral support to Wangchuk. 

Aamir Khan stated, “There is a misconception that 3 Idiots was based on Sonam Wangchuk’s life. That is not true. When the film was being written, we had no information about Sonam Wangchuk, and I did not know him personally. Having said that, the work Sonam Wangchuk is doing is absolutely right. He is on a hunger strike, and many people feel he should end it now because his health is deteriorating.” In addition, directly addressing Omi Vaidya’s (Chatur) viral video, he clarified, “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.” 

According to the BBC, the 59-year-old Sonam Wangchuk has survived for 19 days on salt water alone. His health is deteriorating as he has lost over 9kg while protesting in support of an online satirical movement, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is demanding education reforms. If his indefinite hunger strike continues, it may lead to organ failure.