Let me start with a unique experience I had while watching “3 Idiots” paid premiere in one of Delhi’s leading multiplex on Thursday night. The house was full and everyone was pretty excited to see the last most awaited film of the year 2009. The show was to start at 7pm but unfortunately the print got stuck somewhere and there was a delay announced in the hall of about half an hour. Unusually the wait became long enough to complaint, and the show started 3 hours late at around 10pm. But not a single person in the theater abandoned the show and went back home. Everyone just stayed there in their seats waiting for three long hours along with their kids and family. The ambience made me feel the power, magic and expectations associated with two big names of Bollywood, namely Aamir Khan and Raj Kumar Hirani. And as the movie ended, everyone stood there clapping as refreshed as ever, even after they had spent more than 6 hours sitting in the cinema hall.
In few words, “3 Idiots” fulfills every promise it made and entertains the viewer completely with its engrossing and enlightening content based upon some real life happenings, we see and read about every day. Loosely inspired from Chetan Bhagat’s novel, “Five Point Someone”, it starts with the story of two friends, who are in search of their third adorable room-mate of the engineering college who actually helped them both in finding their own desired path in life. Commencing with a phone call to Madhavan, about their lost friend, the movie keeps shifting between the present & the past and majorly talks about the days they all spent together in the college studying engineering.
The first half is full of highly enjoyable moments which have a distinctive Hirani flavor and are sure going to be liked by everyone of any age or gender. The pants dropping humor may be a bit weird for some but the youngsters would not mind it at all for a change. However the engineering college campus and the in-class sequences in the movie do remind you of all the famous medical college scenes in Hirani’s debut masterpiece “Munnabhai M.B.B.S”. The entertaining first half ends on a mystery note, which straight away gets solved post intermission and then the story moves on towards the search of the third lost idiot, Aamir. Though the second half has got some dragging moments in the mid but overall, it makes a good impact on the viewer with a masterstroke used towards the climax having a pleasant surprise twist. And in the end, it makes you leave the hall clapping with a cheerful smile.
Director Rajkumar Hirani brilliantly writes all his scenes along with the talented Abhijat Joshi and the experienced Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The ease with which he showcases serious issues like Suicides by Students, Ragging in Colleges, Faulty Education System based on memorization and the unnecessary competition creating tension is simply commendable. He politely gives his own message through many comic and hilarious sequences in the movie which also have much bigger hidden indications for the society. Further, he humbly goes on to remind you that Are you doing the job you always wished for...? Or you also have just compromised and bowed down to the demanding needs of your greedy surroundings and still regretting the major decision of your life.
To be straight, “3 Idiots” is a director’s movie completely. Though it has been more publicized and awaited as an Aamir Khan project, but it would be completely unfair to treat it at par with the perfectionist’s earlier movies where he is in full force as a solo hero. In fact, every big and small character in “3 Idiots”, strongly makes his presence felt, which in turn restrains anybody from calling it an Aamir Khan movie alone. Having said that, I would also like to add that with “3 Idiots” Aamir once again proves his unmatchable understanding of the medium and willingness to work better with a team spirit. He consistently delivers another flawless performance of his shining career under the expert direction of Raj Kumar Hirani. His commitment towards the works shows from the unbelievable slim physique he gets into for the role of a college student after the famous body building act of “Ghajini” and comes out as a clear winner.
After Aamir, the next best act comes from Sharman Joshi who very convincingly portrays a complex character of a student caught in a dilemma. It’s unarguably the toughest role and Sharman’s best performance of his career till date. A truly award winning act by the young lad in the Best Supporting Act Category this year. The third idiot, Madhavan equally impresses in the role of an engineering student, wishing to become a wild life photographer from heart. Madhavan, never makes you feel his huge star status in the south and impressively plays his part with a quite conviction. Boman Irani is superb as earlier seen in the similar role of a University professor. Actually, he has mastered this particular kind of character by now and looks great in his messy get up in the movie.
Kareena Kapoor hasn’t got a big role in the script, but she still manages to catch your attention through her new look with the glasses. Mona Singh is cool in her few scenes but Javed Jaffery is wasted in a two scene role. The actor playing the studious friend of the 3 Idiots is first rate and Parikshit Sahni thankfully is there with a controlled act. Cinematography is worth mentioning especially in the scenes where the three friends meet at the top of a high rise structure, the beautiful roads in the mountains and the climax scene shot along the blue water lake of Ladakh. Shantanu Moitra’s music is not worth buying as an album, but it impresses and leaves a mark after you have watched the movie in the theater. The song “All Izz Well” keeps growing on the mind, once you understand the real meaning of its lyrics in the movie. Background score suits the mood of the script well and is used creatively in the scenes.
Summing up, there is no doubt that “3 Idiots” is one of the finest movies of 2009 and will be a great success at the box office, but at the same time I would like to share a few points I have in mind about the movie :
Firstly, the basic format of the movie remains very close to Hirani’s debut venture “Munnabhai MBBS”. It has many similar (not identical) scenes of college classrooms, lectures and exams (though the subjects are different). The interaction between Boman and Aamir is on the similar lines of Boman and Sanjay Dutt. There is also a Hospital Sequence of Sharman getting paralyzed and Aamir curing him with his miraculous ways (quite identical to Carrom Board Sequence in Munna Bhai). And lastly as there was “Jaadoo Ki Jhappi” in Munna Bhai and “Gandhigiri” in “Lage Raho”, similarly here we have a new phrase “All Izz Well” used in 3 Idiots to woo the audiences. So I somewhere felt the basic framework of the movie written around the same commercial elements used in Munna Bhai.
Secondly the pregnancy sequence of Mona Singh, where Aamir has to perform as a doctor on the online guidance of Kareena, was a kind of deliberate, filmy and quite far from reality.
And thirdly, I couldn’t appreciate the way, Hirani hilariously treated the poor family of
Sharman Joshi and the character of his paralyzed father. He mercilessly used the poor character as a comedian and made the audience laugh at his helpless situation which I didn’t find very amusing. This particular part was not as per the standards set by Hirani himself through his earlier two masterpieces and was an avoidable patch on an otherwise brilliant and highly entertaining flick from the master craftsman.
Incidentally, as seen in his previous blockbusters, the master director continues to give you a glimpse of his western influences and favourites by using the animated scene of millions of sperms racing towards becoming a baby, which is highly inspired from a similar sequence in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex”
But despite of the above mentioned points, the talented trio, Rajkumar Hirani, Aamir Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra have a sure shot winner in their hands, which will be unanimously liked by all the section of the viewers together and should turn out to be a big success. Raj Kumar Hirani once again proves himself as one of the most talented, gifted and capable directors of Hindi Film Industry. As his third offering he proudly presents an important movie for all the youngsters, which teaches them to just follow their inner dreams and desires. The movie has an ultimate message for all that “You should first aim at enjoying and achieving brilliance in your work and then success will automatically follow”. A must watch indeed.
Rating : 4 / 5 (Missed 4.5 due to the unwanted treatment given to Sharman’s poor Family)
(Added into my list of “Movies To See Before You Die”)
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