Good, not outstanding

Rating: 7/10 (25 February 2010)

3 Idiots is definitely an over-hyped good movie. A lot of expectations were associated with the movie since it was going to come from Raju Hirani, the Munnabhai director and Aamir Khan, the perfectionist actor (and producer and director). Definitely the movie is a good one but it falls short of the pre-release expectations. It is a nice timepass as the entertainment value is quite high. The inherent message for the youth to pursue their passion instead of joining the rat race is also exemplary. However, giving a second look to the movie (after the laughters and the first time euphoria have calmed down), several flaws can be seen very easily in the storyline as well as the treatment. Loosely inspired by the novel Five Point Someone, the movie has shown the lead characters as black or white instead of grey, the real life ones. The director has played with the characters as puppets in his hands instead of allowing them to develop normally. The best example is of Chatur (played excellently by the hitherto less known actor Omi). The movie has exaggerated several things and the biggest drawback of the movie in my opinion is that the storyteller challenges the intelligence of the viewers at several places. There are several incidents in the movie totally indigestible for a sensible viewer. Perhaps Raju Hirani conveniently overlooked the fact that his audience is not the David Dhawan's audience who is expected to leave the brains at home before leaving for the theatre.
3 Idiots (even the name is not appropriate), falters at many points and on many counts. However taking the plus points first, it is recommended as a good comedy successful in making you laugh. Further the music is good and hummable. The song about the character of Rancho played with the titles is quite meaningful and melodious. Choreography is quite good. The performances are excellent right from Aamir Khan to the actors getting the lowest footage in the movie. The message for the students to give precedence to knowledge over marks and follow their passion is definitely admirable. The movie impresses and moves the viewer deeply at certain places. It does not give you a chance to identify its loopholes and weaknesses while viewing it for the first time. Very entertaining and gripping indeed.
But the minus points are too many to categorise the movie as an outstanding (which has been unjustifiably done by several established reviewers). It is necessary (and relatively easy too) to differentiate between an outstanding movie and a good movie. 3 Idiots is good, not outstanding. It is flawed, not flawless. Making fun of a dedicated student (even when he is a book-worm) is not proper, nor is it to blame the head of an institution for a pressurised student's suicide (and an ignorant father for his non-communicative son's suicide). Suicide cannot be given precedence over communication of your anguish and pains. It cannot be glamorised as well. Showing the head of the college as doing ridiculous things just to make fun of him or portray him in bad light is also not a commendable thing. A scientist with 400 patents being so unknown and unidentified and a girl not marrying for ten years, yet not making any meaningful (and successful) effort to search for her lost love, besides males playing midwives and managing childbirth with the help of a vacuum-cleaner are a few among several irritating things shown in the movie. Rancho's distorting the speech written in Roman for Chatur and making him a laughing stock just because of his lack of proper knowledge of Hindi language cannot be justified either.
Even on the laughter dimension, the movie is not a perfect one. Showing the male students time and again in the toilet or pointing at their asses looks disgusting after the first time. The excessive use of the word - balatkar (rape) does not allow the movie to be watched comfortably with all the family members. Does the moviemaker want the children (because the movie has been given a U certificate by the Indian Censor Board) to know the meaning of balatkar (rape) before the proper age ?
Raju Hirani had impressed the Indian audience with his close-to-heart Munnabhai movies. However in this movie, he has not succeeded in living upto his reputation and the pre-release hype of the movie. The movie is excellent in parts only. It's irritating at many places. Overall it is good. It could have been a better one by all means.