3 Idiots (2009) has all the hallmarks of a typical
college comedy: hazing, wacky pranks, the crusty old Dean, the crusty
old Dean’s beautiful daughter, and the free-spirited outsider who
changes everybody’s lives, sometimes for the better. And that’s okay; I
don’t mind formula as long as it’s executed well, and 3 Idiots is executed well.
The film opens with former roommates Farhan (Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) rushing back to the Imperial College of Engineering to meet their old friend Rancho (Aamir Khan), who vanished right after graduation, five years ago. When they arrive, though, it’s not Rancho waiting for them, it’s former college rival Chatur (Omi Vaidya), who reminds them of a drunken challenge he issued to Rancho years ago to meet up on the same date and see whose life has been the most successful. Rarhan and Raju are not impressed, and they’re about to leave when Chatur announces that he’s traced Rancho to Shimla.
From there the film alternates between Farhan and Raju trying to unravel the mystery of what has happened to their friend, and flashbacks of Rancho clashing with college chairman Viru “Virus” Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani) and the rest of the faculty over the nature and purpose of education, wooing Virus’s beautiful daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor), and inspiring his friends to follow their dreams.
The mystery deepens when the group arrive in Simla and meet with Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad, and discover that he’s someone else entirely and played by Javed Jaffrey. They’re a bit disturbed to find out that their friend wasn’t who he said he was, but the real Rancho does point them in the right direction, and after a quick stop to pick up Pia, and the little group are on the road again.
Often in this kind of movie the college faculty are stuffy to the point of caricature, obsessed with maintaining order above all, while the nominal protagonists are borderline sociopathic jerks who just want to have fun and drink beer. In 3 Idiots, on the other hand . . . well, Virus is a bit of a cartoon tyrant who is so obsessed with the rules that he drives more than one student to attempt suicide, and Rancho enjoys the occasional drink and likes to use pranks as object lessons, but isn’t always as careful as he should be about who his object lessons hurt, but there’s an actual argument there. Virus is preparing his students to be the best of the best, to thrive in a difficult world. Rancho, on the other hand, is interested in education for its own sake; he doesn’t care about passing the test, he just wants to learn about engineering. That’s an argument worth having.
While 3 Idiots does raise some big questions about the nature of education and the high suicide rate among Indian college students, it’s still a comedy, and a silly one at that. There are more fart jokes than I would have preferred, but the protagonists are flawed but likeable, the friendship is believable, the romance is charming, and the Zoobi Doobi song is guaranteed to get stuck in your head.
The film opens with former roommates Farhan (Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) rushing back to the Imperial College of Engineering to meet their old friend Rancho (Aamir Khan), who vanished right after graduation, five years ago. When they arrive, though, it’s not Rancho waiting for them, it’s former college rival Chatur (Omi Vaidya), who reminds them of a drunken challenge he issued to Rancho years ago to meet up on the same date and see whose life has been the most successful. Rarhan and Raju are not impressed, and they’re about to leave when Chatur announces that he’s traced Rancho to Shimla.
From there the film alternates between Farhan and Raju trying to unravel the mystery of what has happened to their friend, and flashbacks of Rancho clashing with college chairman Viru “Virus” Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani) and the rest of the faculty over the nature and purpose of education, wooing Virus’s beautiful daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor), and inspiring his friends to follow their dreams.
The mystery deepens when the group arrive in Simla and meet with Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad, and discover that he’s someone else entirely and played by Javed Jaffrey. They’re a bit disturbed to find out that their friend wasn’t who he said he was, but the real Rancho does point them in the right direction, and after a quick stop to pick up Pia, and the little group are on the road again.
Often in this kind of movie the college faculty are stuffy to the point of caricature, obsessed with maintaining order above all, while the nominal protagonists are borderline sociopathic jerks who just want to have fun and drink beer. In 3 Idiots, on the other hand . . . well, Virus is a bit of a cartoon tyrant who is so obsessed with the rules that he drives more than one student to attempt suicide, and Rancho enjoys the occasional drink and likes to use pranks as object lessons, but isn’t always as careful as he should be about who his object lessons hurt, but there’s an actual argument there. Virus is preparing his students to be the best of the best, to thrive in a difficult world. Rancho, on the other hand, is interested in education for its own sake; he doesn’t care about passing the test, he just wants to learn about engineering. That’s an argument worth having.
While 3 Idiots does raise some big questions about the nature of education and the high suicide rate among Indian college students, it’s still a comedy, and a silly one at that. There are more fart jokes than I would have preferred, but the protagonists are flawed but likeable, the friendship is believable, the romance is charming, and the Zoobi Doobi song is guaranteed to get stuck in your head.
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