Swara Bhasker on why Bollywood isn’t backing Sonam Wangchuk: ‘They saw what happened to me’

3 min readMumbaiJul 17, 2026 05:26 PM IST

Swara Bhasker weighed in on why many in Bollywood have not openly supported Sonam Wangchuk.

As Sonam Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar entered its 20th day, the education reformer continues to demand accountability over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, broader 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 urged the government to initiate a dialogue while appealing to Wangchuk to end his fast in the interest of his health. Among the most vocal supporters from Bollywood has been Swara Bhasker, who also visited the protest site earlier this week.

‘They’re not coming after seeing what happened to me’: Swara Bhasker

Now, in an interview with The Lallantop, Swara spoke about why many in Bollywood have stayed away from the protest, suggesting that fear of repercussions has kept several actors from speaking out. “They’re not coming after seeing what happened to me. They know that if they speak too much, what happened to Swara Bhasker could happen to them as well. That’s why they are staying away.”

While refusing to judge fellow actors individually, Swara urged people not to rely on celebrities to validate public causes. “Don’t place so much faith in celebrities. A cause does not become important because a celebrity supports it. It is important in its own right.”

She stressed that the protest did not need celebrity endorsement to remain significant. Swara Bhasker said she had joined the demonstration not as a celebrity, but as a citizen and a mother. “This protest is about my daughter’s future too. I don’t want to be forced to leave the country and move to Dubai on a Golden Visa. I want my daughter to grow up and study in this country and have the same opportunities that I had.”

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Earlier this week visiting the protest site, Swara also shared messages of support on Instagram. In one post, she wrote, “Thank you for fighting for the future of all our children.” In another, she shared a photograph with Sonam Wangchuk and captioned it, “The indefatigable Sonam Wangchuk sir is fighting for your children’s future. All my solidarity and gratitude.”

Aamir Khan on Sonam Wangchuk

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan also weighed in on Sonam Wangchuk’s ongoing fast while speaking at the London Indian Film Festival. The actor dismissed the long-held belief that 3 Idiots was based on Wangchuk, clarifying that neither he nor the film’s writers were aware of the education reformer while making the film. He said, “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.”

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Aamir elaborated, “Neither Raju (Hirani) and Abhijat (Joshi), 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 Sonam Wangchuk’s fast, the actor-filmmaker added, “I think all of us are very concerned for his health and life. We hope that he ends his fast.”