3 Idiots: Movie Review

Last December, the local film scene got a taste of Bollywood with "Talaash: The Answer Lies Within". It seems that the first outing was a successful one as we find ourselves with "3 Idiots" starring Aamir Khan in the lead role. The film in fact is a multi-awarded one when it was released back in 2009 and the most successful Bollywood film to date in terms of local and international gross sales - and we get why. It may have the all-too-familiar elements of a Bollywood film like sing and dance portions but at its core, "3 Idiots" has one of the most heart-felt and inspiring stories we have seen on the big-screen. It goes beyond its social commentary on student life and academic pressure and balancing this with the veil of comedy is one that keeps the mood up and light the whole time. "3 Idiots" is not only a feel-good movie but it will also help many to understand how precious this life is and how one may go about living it.

Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi) and Ranchhoddas "Rancho" Shamaldas Chhanchad (Aamir Khan) are three students who share a room in the residence of the fictional Imperial College of Engineering (ICE). Farhan is studying engineering to pursue his father's wishes over his own passion for wildlife photography. Raju on the other hand is studying to get his family out of poverty. While Rancho studies for his simple passion in machines and learning and not grades or success. Rancho's ideas clash with the school's long-lasting tradition of competitiveness and not soon after, Rancho finds himself clashing with the school president, Professor Virus (Boman Irani). It gets worse as Rancho has a penchant to do countless antics that get the three friends into trouble. Ten years later, Farhan and Raju are out on a quest to find their friend Rancho who has disappeared completely from their lives.

"3 Idiots" may seems like a movie about college students having fun but looks can be deceiving and it is very far from what the title is presenting. inside is one serious movie about life, pressure and pretty much ideals that one could definitely use day-to-day. Our favorite part of the movie is the plot device that was used to propel the story forward. The film had a lot of plot points that it wanted to present (each character alone has their own back stories that we need to learn about for example) and the flashback mechanism worked perfectly to keep things moving and mostly interesting the whole time. Although the film took a little to keep things going the first half or so, the emotional and tight second half is well worth the wait. As for the comedy, it's rather typical most of the time but the way the leads committed to the jokes and antics made them extremely and actually funny. Most notable of all the actors is Aamir Khan. We could definitely see the movie shine because of his presence and his acting made the ever-fabled Rancho pop out of the big screen. Overall, even for a 4 year old film, "3 Idiots" is highly-recommended. There's a reason for it being the most popular Bollywood film ever and watching it will show you why.

Rating: 4 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- inspiring and heart-warming story
- incredible chemistry and acting from the three leads

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the first half was a little too tedious and slow
- song and dance numbers are appreciated but could have helped slim down the 3 hour screening time


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