 "Who is Sonam Wangchuk, the character Aamir Khan played in '3 idiots' and who was on hunger strike for 21 days in Ladakh?")
Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 idiots is a massively successful film that stars Aamir Khan, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, and Sharman Joshi. Khan essayed the role of Rancho who later turns out to be Phunsuk Wangdoo. Wangdoo was a character that was inspired by real-life engineer Sonam Wangchuk.
Sonam is an Indian engineer, climate activist and education reformer. He was on a 21-day hunger strike in Ladakh for its statehood and protection of the ‘fragile’ Himalayan ecology. The strike may have ended but Sonam has said his fight for justice will continue.
“I will continue to fight for constitutional safeguards for Ladakh and people’s political rights,” he was quoted saying.
Who is Sonam Wangchuk?
He is the founding-director of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), which was founded in 1988 by a group of students. He played an almost revolutionary role in bringing a much-needed reform in the education system in Ladakh. In 1988, after his graduation, Wangchuk (with his brother and five peers) started Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL).
He was also the founder and the editor of Ladakh’s only print magazine Ladags Melong.
New Ladakh Movement (NLM)
In 2013, a social campaign was launched by Sonam aiming at sustainable education, environment and economy.
On 3 idiots
While speaking to The Lallantop recently, he said he couldn’t connect with the character in the film. “What do I say but somebody else told me to say that I am a lot more beautiful than the character shown in the film. So how do I attach myself with that character?,” Sonam said.
On the film
I have watched the film. It was a nice film with a good message. The film kicks off with a student Joy Lobo (Ali Fazal)’s suicide. Except for its rather unfortunate ‘rape’ joke where a character keeps misusing the word ‘balaaktar’ in public speech as the audience roars in delight, the basic statement of the film, its powerful tenet—let the children pursue their own dreams in life rather than the dreams dreamt for them by their parents—remains as relevant today as it was when 3 Idiots was released in 2009.
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