Thursday, January 14, 2010

Movie Review - 3 Idiots

Three weeks after the entire world watched the movie, I had the opportunity and time to watch "3 Idiots" which was touted as a block buster even before it hit the cinemas. It is no brainer for any Indian to figure out the reasons for so much of hype which surrounded the pre-release of this movie. For some, they wanted to catch up on their fav stars, watching kareena lock lips with Aamir was perhaps a pull for many others, but for blokes like me, it was more to check out the story-line difference between the book and the movie, and ofcourse to have a nice time with friends. And boy, wasnt I glad to have watched the movie even if it meant, losing sleep - which by the way is a pretty precious commodity given my lifestyle of late. "Nostalgic" would be the apt description of the movie if you were to ask anyone walking out of the cinema after the movie. Images flashed across my mental screen of all those wonderful times of college/hostel years, of all those times which, despite being tough, are cherished by many, even years after passing out of college. The movie is a melange of the friendship-bond, power of originality and poetic justice. Besides the lighter aspects, the movie throws a lot of light on the desperate need for Indian parents to think differently and move away from the herd mentality. Every family in my colony boasts of an engineer son or a daughter, for, their belief is that anyone who is not either an engineer or a doctor is not "highly educated". No one ever cared what their son/daughter wanted to become, all they knew was that a B.Tech degree and a scholarship in some god-forsaken university in Uncle Sam's land was the easiest visa to the Big Apple. How I wish this movie had released about a decade ago..it would have helped many of my friends avoid the harrowing time that they had during their B.Tech days. On a more thoughtful note, this movie gets everyone to think about their inner calling ? I, for one, havent figured it even after 28 summers. I am as clueless today as I was in my 5th grade. Vinod tells me that there are many like me who have no idea of their reason for existence, but chug along to flip calenders. They marry someone - like what their parents did, manufacture children - again like what their parents did, and fade into darkness without adding much value to the planet. Coming back to the movie, everything about it is awesome - from the first frame to the last, from the soulful songs to the catchy one-liners, from Rancho to Chatur to Virus to MM [milli-metre]. I cant imagine how this movie could have been made any better. Every frame of the movie had Raj Kumar Hirani's touch to it - rib tickling humor, real-life situations and soulful music ! After watching the movie, I couldnt quite understand Chetan Bhagat's claims of this being an adaptation of FPS, for, the objective of his book and this movie are like chalk and cheese. The similarily between the book and the movie ends at the ragging scene in the first 10 minutes. On a higher note, 3I aims to usher in the progressive thinking ideology whereas FPS looks more at things one shouldnt do at the IITs which would screw-up or more politely - jeopardise one's career. Verdict: 3 Idiots is a laugh-riot, a cult movie and a must watch for people of all ages ! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the movie and I still hum the song - give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance, I wanna grow up once again !! Adios...V !