Old Sonam Wangchuk video surfaces after Aamir Khan says he didn't know him in 2009

An old video of activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk recalling his 2008 meeting with Aamir Khan has resurfaced online after the actor recently said he didn't know Wangchuk when his film, 3 Idiots, was being made. The 2009 film featured Aamir as Phunsukh Wangdu, a character widely believed to have been based on Wangchuk. In the now-viral video, the 59-year-old activist, who has been on a hunger strike at Delhi's Jantar Mantar for 20 days, is seen confirming that he had met Aamir back in 2008.

The video is from Wangchuk's appearance at the 2008 CNN-IBN event where he was honoured with the 'Real Heroes Award' for his work in education in Ladakh. As shown in the video, Wangchuk doesn't just confirm meeting Aamir, but also recalls discussing a film based on the India-Pakistan conflict in the border regions of Ladakh and Baltistan, as well as the Siachen dispute. The Ramon Magsaysay Award-winner also shares how he loved Aamir's performance in the 2007 film Taare Zameen Par, that recognised children's learning disabilities.

Watch the clip here:

The video resurfaced after Khan addressed the long-standing belief that his character Phunsukh Wangdu in the 2009 film was inspired by Wangchuk. Speaking at a British Film Institute event in England on Thursday, Khan said his character was not based on Wangchuk, and that it was merely a “misconception”. He said neither director Rajkumar Hirani nor writer Abhijat Joshi knew Wangchuk while making the film.

“No, no. That is a misconception. I didn't know about Mr Sonam at that time when we were doing the film, 3 Idiots. I know I saw a video of Chatur (Omi Vaidya) recently. He is wrong. Maybe that's what Chatur is thinking. Neither Raju nor Abhijat Joshi, who were the two writers, nor I - we didn't know about Mr Sonam. However, what Mr Sonam is doing is good in any case. He doesn't have to be based on the character of 3 Idiots for us to respect him,” Khan said. He also expressed concern about Wangchuk's health as the activist continued his indefinite hunger strike at Delhi's Jantar Mantar.

“Mr Sonam has also said before that the character is not about him. 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,” Khan said.

Watch the video here:

Sonam Wangchuk on the making of 3 Idiots

A few months later, he travelled to France to study earth architecture. In December 2009, he said, he began receiving emails from friends and journalists congratulating him on a film that had supposedly been made about his work. Wangchuk said he was initially confused and later learnt that the film had been shot at a school associated with him. According to him, filmmakers had visited the school in 2008 but had not revealed the nature of the project.

He claimed that the team wanted to bring in a large quantity of plastic waste for the shoot, but permission was refused. The filming was subsequently moved to another nearby school, he said.

Wangchuk said he had considered writing to the filmmakers after the release of 3 Idiots but decided against it. He said the controversy between author Chetan Bhagat and the filmmakers over the film's authorship had erupted around the same time, and he did not want his correspondence to be interpreted as a demand for money.

He said he eventually wrote a letter after waiting for two years, mentioning his meeting with Khan and the later film, but received no response.