Aamir immediately corrected the assumption. “No. That’s not true actually. That is a misconception. I didn’t know about Mr Sonam at the time when we were doing the film 3 Idiots.”

He then referred to Omi Vaidya’s recent appeal for Wangchuk, in which the actor, reprising his famous “Chatur” persona, said, “I don’t want Phunsukh Wangdu to die.” Responding to it, Aamir said with a smile, “He is wrong.”

He further explained, “Neither Raju and Abhijat, who were the two writers, nor I knew about Sonam. However, what Mr Sonam is doing doesn’t have to be based on the character of 3 Idiots for us to respect him. In fact, Mr Sonam himself has said that the character is not based on him. He has also clarified.”

Speaking about Wangchuk’s fast, Aamir added, “I think all of us are very concerned for his health and life. We hope that he ends his fast.”

ALSO READ | ‘I am not Phunsukh Wangdu’: Why Sonam Wangchuk distanced himself from Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots

What Sonam Wangchuk had said

Years ago, Sonam Wangchuk had distanced himself from 3 Idiots, saying he was never approached by the filmmakers or asked for his consent despite similarities people drew between him and the film’s character, Phunsukh Wangdu. Speaking at a Josh Talks event, Wangchuk recalled meeting Aamir Khan in 2008 at a CNN-IBN awards ceremony.

“I told him, ‘Can you make a film on the tension in Siachen, where countries are fighting over a piece of ice while spending nearly Rs 7 crore every day? Can we show that ordinary people from both countries solve the problem and that money is instead used for education?’” According to Wangchuk, Aamir listened with interest and watched an audio-visual presentation about his work that was screened during the event.

Soon after, Wangchuk travelled to France to study Earth Architecture. A year later, after 3 Idiots was released, he began receiving congratulatory emails. “People told me, ‘The film based on you is fantastic.’ I was shocked. They also said they had shown my school.”

When he contacted his school, Wangchuk was told that a film crew had indeed visited but had kept the project under wraps. “They were planning to bring a lot of plastic material, so we refused permission. Later, they shot in another nearby school,” he recalled.

Wangchuk said he chose not to raise the issue immediately because he did not want people to think he was seeking money from the filmmakers, especially as the controversy between the makers and author Chetan Bhagat over story credit was already dominating headlines.

“I waited until the legal period for claiming compensation had expired. I wrote a letter to the makers, explaining how I met Aamir Khan before the film was made. They never replied. Nor do I expect them to. I have better things to do in life,” he said.

Sonam Wangchuk hunger strike

Sonam Wangchuk has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, demanding accountability over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, education reforms, and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. His protest has drawn support from several actors, filmmakers, digital creators and public figures, many of whom have appealed to the government to initiate dialogue while urging Wangchuk to end his fast for the sake of his health.