Actor Olivier Lafont played the role of actor Kareena Kapoor Khan’s money-minded fiancé, Suhas Tandon, in 3 Idiots (2009). While his performance was received well, the character got a lot of hate for being materialistic. A recent tweet calling him “a good man” prompted people to re-look at his character. Some even apologised to him, and the Paris-based actor graciously responded to them.

“I woke up one morning to find that people in India were suddenly sympathetic to a character I played 14 years ago. It was amusing and fascinating to receive apologies and explanations as though Suhas and I were the same person,” he tells us.

Although Lafont knew his performance was well-received, he never imagined that the character “would have such a deep impact”. “To realise that people have been relating my character to the universal conflicts of money, materialism, success and image is intriguing,” shares the actor, who has appeared in cameos in other Bollywood films such as Guzaarish (2010) and Ishkq in Paris (2013).

Ask if there are indeed any similarities between him and his 3 Idiots character, and Lafont says, “They are as different as chutney and cheesecake. There’s just one commonality — we both have an appreciation for luxury brands.”