Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and
Rancchoddas "Rancho" Shyamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) are three
engineering students who share a room in a hostel at the Imperial College of
Engineering, one of the best colleges in India. While Farhan and Raju are
average students from modest backgrounds, Rancho is from a rich family. Farhan
wants to become a wildlife photographer, but has joined engineering college to
fulfil his father's wish. Raju on the other hand wants to uplift his family
fortunes. Rancho is a wealthy genius who studies for the sheer joy of it.
However, Rancho's passion is for knowledge and taking apart and building
machines rather than the conventional obsession of the other students with exam
ranks. With his different approach Rancho incurs the wrath of dean of college,
Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe (ViruS) (Boman Irani). Rancho irritates his
lecturers by giving creative and unorthodox answers, and confronts ViruS after
fellow student Joy Lobo hangs himself in his dormitory room. Joy had requested
an extension on his major project on compassionate groundshis father had
suffered a strokebut ViruS refused, saying that he himself was completely
unmoved by his own son's accidental death after being hit by a train. Rancho
denounces the rat race, dog-eat-dog, mindless rote learning mentality of the
institution, blaming it for Lobo's death.
Rancho
is the rebel among them always questioning things and believing that learning
is more than just the usual mode of education.
He
encourages his friends to look beyond the ordinary and soon earns the wrath of
the college director Viru Sahasrabuddhe (Boman Irani).
Despite
his fun and frolic, Rancho always surprises everyone by topping the class. He
even manages to win the affections of the director's daughter Pia (Kareena
Kapoor). But Rancho's greatest contribution lies is making his friends realise
their true calling.
This isn't a bad film, though. By which I mean it conjures up a few moments, it will doubtless make some people cry, and every now and then we glimpse some heart. Yet it hurts to see that this is traditional Bollywood masala schlock, with scenes calculated to tickle and to evoke sympathy. It's not awful at all, but since when did 'not bad' become good? Dr Feelgood doesn't make the cut this time, and we need to measure him by the high bar his previous excellence has set -- by which degree this is a whopper of a disappointment.
This isn't a bad film, though. By which I mean it conjures up a few moments, it will doubtless make some people cry, and every now and then we glimpse some heart. Yet it hurts to see that this is traditional Bollywood masala schlock, with scenes calculated to tickle and to evoke sympathy. It's not awful at all, but since when did 'not bad' become good? Dr Feelgood doesn't make the cut this time, and we need to measure him by the high bar his previous excellence has set -- by which degree this is a whopper of a disappointment.
The
twist comes when on Graduation Day. After being awarded the Student Of The Year
title, Rancho mysteriously disappears into oblivion.
Years
later, Farhan and Raju, finding a common thread, embark on a journey to find
their friend. 3 Idiots is a story of friendship, hope, aspirations and most
importantly, the goodness of life.
With
3 Idiots, Rajkumar Hirani proves beyond doubt that there's no better storyteller
than him in the present generation.
Like
the peppy Aal Izz Well song drawing towards a tragic climax it's so cleverly
done that it has the desired effect. There are scenes that'll make you laugh,
they'll make you cry and they'll make you think.
Hirani
does it all so beautifully that you want to go back to college and relive all
those moments.
The
falling in love, the harassment by professors, the secret drinking sessions,
the ragging of fellow students it's all there.
Hirani
also sends across a message on student pressures but there's no preaching here
it's all done in his inimitable style.
Most
films have their own set of 'highlight' scenes.
3
Idiots is different because every scene is special and brings with it something
that's out of the ordinary.
But there are a few that have a far lasting impact the entire ragging sequence; the camaraderie between Rancho and Pia; Chatur's (the 'brainy' student) hilarious speech; the entire black-and-white depiction of Raju's family; most of the scenes between Rancho and Viru; the sequences that lead to Raju's recovery in the hospital and many more. After a point, you just stop counting.
Dialogues are snappy and totally effective ("In India, you get a pizza in 30 minutes guaranteed but not an ambulance"). The soundtrack, background score and cinematography is top class.
But there are a few that have a far lasting impact the entire ragging sequence; the camaraderie between Rancho and Pia; Chatur's (the 'brainy' student) hilarious speech; the entire black-and-white depiction of Raju's family; most of the scenes between Rancho and Viru; the sequences that lead to Raju's recovery in the hospital and many more. After a point, you just stop counting.
Dialogues are snappy and totally effective ("In India, you get a pizza in 30 minutes guaranteed but not an ambulance"). The soundtrack, background score and cinematography is top class.
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