Is Sonam Wangchuk really ‘Phunsukh Wangdu’? No patents to his name, son of Congress MLA and more

“Behti hawa sa tha wo, kahan gaya usey dhundho”. This song from the 2009 film 3 Idiots has swept Instagram, with several left liberal propagandists, actors, and content creators making emotional reels appealing to people to save the so-called “real-life” Phunsukh Wangdu, Sonam Wangchuk. When politics and gimmicks could not garner national sympathy and support, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) played the tried and tested emotional card. As Sonam Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike entered its 17th day, social media saw a wave of emotional content across platforms like Instagram and X, framing Sonam Wangchuk as the ‘real-life Phunsukh Wangdu’. Numerous reels have been posted with the “Behti hawa sa” song from the 2009 film 3 Idiots. These reels are issuing calls to “save” Phunsukh Wangdu (also spelt Phunsuk Wangdu) and to pressure the Central government to heed Wangchuk’s demands. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KHUSHI SONI (@ohfoo_khushi) Sonam Wangchuk joined the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar on 28th June, announcing an indefinite hunger strike. Wangchuk’s core demands include the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak and other exam-related irregularities. He is also pressing for constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, in addition to stronger environmental protections. The ‘Do not let real-life Phunsukh Wangdu/Sonam Wangchuk die’ campaign has been launched to gain national support and attract a crowd for a scheduled march towards the Parliament on 20th July. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ANUSHKA (@anushkachoudhary_1) Many creators claim that innovator Sonam Wangchuk has around 400 patents to his name. It is also being claimed that just like Rancho/Phunsukh Wangdu in the movie, Sonam Wangchuk also hailed from a poor background. In the movie 3 Idiots, Aamir Khan’s character, initially claimed to be inspired by Wangchuk’s life, was shown as the son of a poor gardener. While many reels and posts are claiming that Sonam Wangchuk is the real-life Phunsukh Wangdu aka Rancho, the character played by actor Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots, a major voice that has lent credence to this myth is the movie’s “Chatur”, actor Omi Vaidya. Vaidya posted a video appeal on Instagram on 15th July and said, “I don’t want Phunsukh Wangdu to die. Hello idiots, pehchana? This is Omi Vaidya, Chatur from 3 Idiots and Sadiq from The Office, and I have an important message for you. I don’t really do this very often, so please listen up. Did you know that Phunsukh Wangdu from 3 Idiots is actually based on a real-life Ladakhi engineer, innovator, educator and reformer named Sonam Wangchuk? I’ve met this guy. He’s a pretty interesting character.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Omi Vaidya (@omivaidya_official) “Right now, he is on a very long hunger strike. His blood sugar has gone down very much. I don’t know if you’ve heard about this. I don’t know if the media is reporting this. But this is a pretty important thing. Whether you agree with him or not, I don’t really want this guy to die,” he added. From Anurag Kashyap, Swara Bhasker, Shreya Dhanwantari, Zeenat Aman, Abhay Deol, Swanand Kirkire, Soni Razdan, Shabana Azmi, to Ratna Shah, Naseeruddin Shah, and more, Bollywood actors are pouring in their support for Wangchuk, with many urging him to end his hunger strike. Even some mainstream media outlets are calling Sonam Wangchuk “real-life Phunsukh Wangdu”. Source: Moneycontrol/Youtube As several content creators are churning out emotional appeals and sob stories online, declaring Sonam Wangchuk as Phunsukh Wangdu, an education reform crusader and whatnot, it is pertinent to segregate facts from fiction. Sonam Wangchuk is not Phunsuk Wangdu, does not have 400 patents, nor a poor family background In the film 3 Idiots, Phunsukh Wangdu is a fictional genius inventor with hundreds of patents, who runs an unconventional school and challenges the rote learning culture in the education system. After the film’s release in 2009, the mainstream media and public discourse started calling Sonam Wangchuk a “real-life Phunsukh Wangdu” as his work on alternative education, the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), loosely inspired aspects of Rancho’s character. Wangchuk is credited for developing the Ice Stupa artificial glacier technique to provide irrigation water for high-altitude trans-Himalayan villages during spring. However, contrary to the popular claims, Sonam Wangchuk is not real-life Phunsukh Wangdu. This fact has been confirmed by none other than Sonam Wangchuk himself. Years back, Wangchuk revealed that he is not Phunsukh Wangdu and he was not consulted by the makers of 3 Idiots. Wangchuk even claimed that the film’s crew allegedly visited his school in Ladakh secretly. Sonam Wangchuk further stated that he was “not very proud” of the association if it drew from his real life, and stressed that he preferred recognition for his actual work. “ Wangchuk had even written a letter to the makers of 3 Idiots questioning the alleged unconsented use of his life and work. “They secretly came to my school to shoot the film. If you say inspired, then I won’t deny it. A lot of people say the film is based on me, but I don’t agree with that. The right word is that it may have been inspired or influenced. At the same time, I don’t want people in this country to accept something simply because it is associated with a film. So even if the film is influenced by me, I am not very proud of it. And if it is not inspired by me, I don’t regret it either,” he said. “I am troubled because people constantly ask me, ‘Is your school the one shown in 3 Idiots? Are you Phunsukh Wangdu?’ I want to clarify: No, I am not Phunsukh Wangdu. I am Sonam Wangchuk. I don’t work in films, I work in real life. I work on innovations that can go from India to the world and make our country proud,” he added. The director of 3 Idiots, Rajkumar Hirani, had later in an interview said that Rancho or Phunsukh Wangdu’s character was not inspired by Sonam Wangchuk, but from a person who wanted to make a career in filmmaking, but could not get admission into the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Thus, it is evident that Phunsuk Wangdu is not Sonam Wangchuk. Similarly, there is no truth in the viral claims that Sonam Wangchuk has 400 patents, directly copied from the movie character. There is no credible evidence that Wangchuk has any patented innovation to his credit. He is known for developing practical innovations like Ice Stupa artificial glaciers, solar-heated buildings, and portable solar tents for the Indian Army. Some reports claim that a tent design was “being patented”; however, there is little information about that as well. In short, unlike the movie character having 400 patents, Wangchuk has zero patents. The “400 patents” figure many influencers are citing in their videos on Sonam Wangchuk is essentially a conflation with the fictional Phunsukh Wangdu. Another misleading claim about Wangchuk doing rounds on social media is also rooted in a conflation with the fictional 3 Idiots character. It is being claimed that just as Phunsukh Wangdu or Rancho hailed from a poor family background, the supposed real-life Wangdu, Sonam Wangchuk, hailed from a humble background. In reality, however, Sonam Wangchuk is the son of Sonam Wangyal, a prominent Ladakhi Congress leader. Wangyal served as an MLA from Leh around 1972 and later went on to become a minister in the Jammu and Kashmir government in 1975. His family moved to Srinagar during this period. Wangchuk appears to have taken inspiration from his father for doing hunger strikes. In 1984, Wangyal went on hunger strike to demand ST status for Ladakh. Source: Tshering Wangdi Lepcha’s Facebook post Later, in 1987, Wangyal was expelled from Congress over alleged anti-party activities. Thus, contrary to the viral “grassroots hero with a humble beginning” narratives around Sonam Wangchuk are misleading. Wangchuk hailed from a financially sound and politically powerful family. In recent years, Sonam Wangchuk has courted many controversies. Last year, it was reported that engineer and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk had not paid rent for several years for 135 acres of land, whose present market value is between ₹27 and ₹30 crores. This was despite the issuance of notices by the Deputy Commissioner under Clause 4(b). At the same time, no university was set up within a one-year period of the lease agreement. Interestingly, HIAL applied for ‘university status’ only in 2022, i.e. 4 years after land allotment. Despite his own non-compliance with the lease agreement, Wangchuk made frivolous claims of regulatory hurdles. HIAL did not approach the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) for 3 years. It attempted to bypass the council by directly reaching out to the Deputy Commissioner of Leh. claimed that the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL) was granted a waiver of ₹14 crore premium. However, the request was never accepted by LAHDC. As such, no exemption of any kind exists in official records. After the Ladakh administration cancelled allotments to the HIAL, Wangchuk played the victim card and alleged a ‘witch hunt’ by the Central government. Wangchuk, who had travelled to Pakistan earlier in February 2025 to attend a ‘climate conference’, had received immense support from Pakistani handles on social media at that time. Sonam Wangchuk and his institutions also faced a CBI investigation for alleged violation of foreign funding rules. Serious financial irregularities had been detected in the functioning of HIAL, including repeat violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Reportedly, HIAL received local donations into its FCRA account, which is a clear violation of Section 17 of the FCRA 2010. Additionally, HIAL had received foreign remittances worth around ₹1.5 crore even before applying for FCRA registration, which goes against Section 11 of the same Act. HIAL allegedly had 7 accounts, out of which 04 were not declared by them. Sonam Wangchuk himself was reported to have 9 personal bank accounts, of which 8 were allegedly not declared. It was also claimed that Wangchuk receives huge funds under CSR from various corporate entities, including central government PSUs, even as he criticises the corporate sector. Wangchuk has been accused of inciting the violence that broke out in Ladakh in September 2025, which reportedly led to four deaths in police firing. In March this year, the Central government revoked the detention of Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act, nearly six months after the Ladakh activist was arrested amid protests in Ladakh. Sonam Wangchuk has attempted several hunger strikes as protests for various reasons, including the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh, and now for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. While the “Phunsukh Wangdu” and 3 Idiots movie connection is being aggressively amplified on social media for virality and sympathy, Sonam Wangchuk has little to do with the movie character. However, since the ‘humble innovator-turned-education reformist’ and the people’s favourite real-life Phunsukh Wangdu myth carries emotional appeal strong enough to stir things up, it is being widely used online.