3 Idiots (2009)Director: Raj Kumar Hirani
Cast: Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, R. Madhvan, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor
Rating: 3.5/5
If I had predicted 8 years back when I was in Class IX that I would study Commerce for the next 5 years, do an MBA and take up a job in Sports Marketing, many of my peers would have been amused about my slightly off beat path, while the uncles and the aunties would have scorned and said “ Beta science kyu nahi lete, intelligent ho, tum engineer ya doctor bano.” (Thank god my parents are not one of those uncles and aunties and I did what I did and in future will do what I want to do with complete freedom!) Though, now we have people taking up off beat professions and doing well for themselves, the typical middle class view of education has remained unaltered over the years. Education system itself hasn’t changed much – emphasis is still on rote learning; and doing a B.Tech, MBBS or an MBA ensures one a successful career.
It was high time that a movie was made to portray and challenge the values of our education system and who better than Raj Kumar Hirani, the man behind the ‘Jaadu Ki Jhappi’ and ‘Gandhigiri’ to give his idealistic and super entertaining take on this issue.
Three Idiots based in a very stereotypical setting of an Indian engineering college makes a mockery of the education system where engineers don’t graduate but they are manufactured with complete disregard to their raw materials i.e. their talent, passion, mental framework and area of interest.
The biggest plus point of this movie is that it does not preach, it connects and connects like no other! It is through a well knit story with capable actors that the director manages to captivate the audience for over two and a half hours and inject ‘gyaan’ from time to time while not compromising on the entertainment dose. Raj Kumar Hirani knows when to give what dose and in what strength.
The movie is a quintessential bollywood entertainer and the director uses all clichés and ‘creative freedom’ to drive the movie along its runtime. A group of three friends having different background and varied interests, bond and cherish each other for a lifetime like Dil Chahta Hai.
The film does well to show a typical lower middle class setup. Raju Rastogi played by Sharman Joshi has a sick father and an unmarried sister at home and relies on astrology and religion to overcome his dire circumstances. The film has audience in splits when Raju’s domestic life is shown in black and white with melancholic music playing in the background. Farhan Qureshi’s (R. Madhavan) parents on the other hand have sacrificed all luxuries in life so that they could support their son and see him become an engineer.
The protagonist Rancho played by Aamir Khan is a witty guy who thinks out of the box, defies and challenges set patterns and values of education, brings a revolution in his friends' lives, confronts his dogmatic and vindictive college Dean and has a subtle love interest in Pia who turns out to be the Dean’s daughter!
If I had predicted 8 years back when I was in Class IX that I would study Commerce for the next 5 years, do an MBA and take up a job in Sports Marketing, many of my peers would have been amused about my slightly off beat path, while the uncles and the aunties would have scorned and said “ Beta science kyu nahi lete, intelligent ho, tum engineer ya doctor bano.” (Thank god my parents are not one of those uncles and aunties and I did what I did and in future will do what I want to do with complete freedom!) Though, now we have people taking up off beat professions and doing well for themselves, the typical middle class view of education has remained unaltered over the years. Education system itself hasn’t changed much – emphasis is still on rote learning; and doing a B.Tech, MBBS or an MBA ensures one a successful career.
It was high time that a movie was made to portray and challenge the values of our education system and who better than Raj Kumar Hirani, the man behind the ‘Jaadu Ki Jhappi’ and ‘Gandhigiri’ to give his idealistic and super entertaining take on this issue.
Three Idiots based in a very stereotypical setting of an Indian engineering college makes a mockery of the education system where engineers don’t graduate but they are manufactured with complete disregard to their raw materials i.e. their talent, passion, mental framework and area of interest.
The biggest plus point of this movie is that it does not preach, it connects and connects like no other! It is through a well knit story with capable actors that the director manages to captivate the audience for over two and a half hours and inject ‘gyaan’ from time to time while not compromising on the entertainment dose. Raj Kumar Hirani knows when to give what dose and in what strength.
The movie is a quintessential bollywood entertainer and the director uses all clichés and ‘creative freedom’ to drive the movie along its runtime. A group of three friends having different background and varied interests, bond and cherish each other for a lifetime like Dil Chahta Hai.
The film does well to show a typical lower middle class setup. Raju Rastogi played by Sharman Joshi has a sick father and an unmarried sister at home and relies on astrology and religion to overcome his dire circumstances. The film has audience in splits when Raju’s domestic life is shown in black and white with melancholic music playing in the background. Farhan Qureshi’s (R. Madhavan) parents on the other hand have sacrificed all luxuries in life so that they could support their son and see him become an engineer.
The protagonist Rancho played by Aamir Khan is a witty guy who thinks out of the box, defies and challenges set patterns and values of education, brings a revolution in his friends' lives, confronts his dogmatic and vindictive college Dean and has a subtle love interest in Pia who turns out to be the Dean’s daughter!
In 1989 he played a college student, hung a guitar on his shoulders and sang “Papa kehte hai bada naam karega....koi engineer ka kaam karega.” It is remarkable that 20 years down the line he can still convincingly portray the character of a 20 something. Aamir has indeed traversed a long way and 3 Idiots establishes his unique indomitable niche in Hindi Cinema. Here’s one actor who has managed a difficult feat – of continuously doing meaningful, yet commercially successful cinema (I have deleted Mela and Ghajini from my memory).
Aamir’s role in three idiots doesn’t really stretch his capabilities as an actor. The role could very well have been portrayed by a Ranbir, a Shahid or an Abhay Deol. But what a superstar like Aamir can do to the character of Rancho, none of these guys can. As Aamir gives gyaan to his two friends and explains them the funda of ‘aall iz well’, you know that he is successfully elevating this movie to a cult status!
Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan playing the other two leads give a subdued yet effective performance and let Aamir drive the show. Kareena is at her bubbly best! But the two performances that really stand out are that of Omi Vaidya who plays Chatur and Boman Irani who plays the college Dean. The movie would not have been even fifty percent as humorous had it not been for the antics of Chatur who pulls off one of the most hilarious five minute speech one can ever hear. Boman Irani is the only character in the movie who I think is irreplaceable. All you can say when you watch Boman is “Hail Sahastrabudhhe”!
The film is well complemented by cinematography, music and choreography. The opening shots which zoom past the Himalayas and the ending scenes shot in the serene and isolated valley of Ladakh are a visual treat. Swananad Giri pens some meaningful lyrics which are backed by good music and renditions by Shantanu Moitra and Sonu Nigam respectively.
Three Idiots, even though crowd pleasing is not above its flaws. Hirani sticks to his tried and tested formula of pitting a Hitler type figure against an idealist hero. There is way too much glycerine used in making this movie! The mawkish sentimentality in some of the scenes is uncalled for. In order to prove the genius in Rancho, the director resorts to an unimpressive gimmick in the end. The “All Iz Well” funda over stays its welcome when it is used as a device to culminate the climax of the movie. Also, there is no denying the fact that 3 Idiots is largely inspired from Chetan Bhagat’s ‘5 Point Someone’ and there is no justification for the filmmakers to not give the credit to the author for the story right in the starting credits.
Notwithstanding its flaws and controversies, 3 Idiots is a good effort which gives the audience what it needs most – entertainment. The film is Hirani’s way of saying – “Indian Film Audience, tussi great ho, tohfa kabool karo.”
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P.S. Writing this review is like coming out of hibernation for me. Many of you have complained about my absence but the new job has made me BUSY in the true sense of the word. I have missed reviewing some major movies like Kurbaan, Paa and Rocket Singh ( My favorite movie from 2009) over the past few months but will try to be regular with my reviews at least for the big movies. The OSCAR season is knocking and it will be great to review the favorites for this year. My next blog entry will be about my expectation from 2010's most anticipated movie - My Name Is Khan.
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3 comments:
welcome bak n wow.....!! dat waz brilliant n well balanced reviw....itz a gud movie but not a masterpiece dfntly!
n ya for u i think it wil be studyin commerce to doing mba to career in sports marketing to a career in showbiz? :-D
Ojha
A round of applause for you, very well written, but some how I feel your review does not match with the rating. I personally liked the movie and if i would rate, I will give 4 out of 5. The only critics in the movie according to me was the delivery with the help of vacuum cleaner, then baby reacting on "All Iz Well" it was little exaggeration ;-) Rest "All Izz Well" :-)
Keep it up and keep writing.
Take Care
D.J
tussi great ho. Mera yeh comment kabul karo as a tohfa! :p
Agree with DJ above.
If you rate Rocket Singh higher than 3 Idiots, that certainly won't be fair, I think!
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