Did Sonam Wangchuk inspire Rancho in ‘3 Idiots’? Aamir Khan says no, while Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra share different stories | Hindi Movie News
A new review of ‘3 Idiots’ has revived a long-standing debate in Bollywood: who was the biggest inspiration for Rancho, the film’s main character? Although many have associated this character with a well-known educational reformer for many years, the filmmaker Rajkumar Hiranimanufacturer Vidhu Vinod Chopra is an actor Aamir Khan all have given different explanations about Phunsukh Wangdu’s origin, which makes this mystery even more interesting.
Aamir Khan is defying popular belief
The discussion started again after Omi Vaidya, who played Chatur in ‘3 Idiots’, contributed Sonam Wangchuk During his hunger strike I said, “I don’t want Phunsukh Wangdu to die.” His words also fueled speculation that the film’s main character was based on Wangchuk.However, speaking at the BFI Southbank conference in London, Aamir Khan rejected the idea. “Raju and Abhijat, who wrote the film, I didn’t know about Sonam while we were making ‘3 Idiots’.” Calling the belief a misconception, Aamir explained that the makers did not know about Wangchuk while making the film.
Rajkumar Hirani traced Rancho’s roots to FTII
Director Rajkumar Hirani had previously spoken about the origin of Rancho in an interview with Komal Nahta. According to him, the philosophy behind the character came from his days at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).Remembering the event, Hirani said: “I often thought that there are many interesting stories here that should one day be shown in films.” He then told the story of an FTII aspirant who allegedly attended the course under the knowledge of another student because he wanted to learn filmmaking.Explaining why the story stuck with him, Hirani recalled the student’s response after the course. “I didn’t want to at all. I just wanted to learn how to make films.” The filmmaker said that the belief that education is learning and not certificates became the basis of Rancho’s personality, while a series of real events eventually changed his character.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra said Rancho reflected his life
Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, however, has given a very different account over the years. At the NFDC’s Film Bazaar in 2014, Chopra said that Rancho was very inspired by his journey. “Rancho’s character is based on me. It is inspired by my life.”He revealed that he rarely attended during his FTII days and failed his final exams. A few years later, after receiving an Oscar nomination for ‘An Encounter With Faces’, the organization invited him back and honored him by presenting him with a certificate of achievement. Chopra also said that her family wanted her to become a doctor, while she secretly enjoyed making films.Remembering the time when she finally confessed to her father, she said: “I thought he would appreciate me.
Another inspiration behind Phunsukh Wangdu
Years after she said that Rancho was based on her life, Chopra added another story. At the Himalayan Film Festival in Ladakh in 2021, he revealed that the character’s full name, Phunsukh Wangdu, was inspired by his former FTII colleague Phuntsok, affectionately calling him “Phuntsok Ladakhi.”
A debate that refuses to disappear
Released in 2009, ‘3 Idiots’ was adapted from Chetan Bhagat’s novel ‘Five Point Someone’. Since then, discussions about Rancho’s true inspiration have continued for ten years.With Aamir Khan now repeating that neither he nor the filmmakers knew about Sonam Wangchuk during the making of the blockbuster, with Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra giving different stories over the years, the true inspiration behind one of the most beloved characters in Indian cinema remains open to interpretation.
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