likable if bloated screwball comedy

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2012)

When it comes to running-time, why does Bollywood treat every movie as if it were a sweeping historical epic on the order of a "Lawrence of Arabia" or a "Doctor Zhivago?" A case in point: "3 Idiots," an amiable enough little screwball comedy that has been padded out to a wrist-slashing 164 minutes. It also happens to be the most commercially successful Bollywood feature ever released in India. Go figure.
The story centers around a trio of promising but mischievous young engineering students who rebel against the high-pressured rigidity - both academic and personal - of the exclusive school they're attending.
"3 Idiots" has two things going for it: its cranked-up energy level and its appealing actors, especially Aamir Khan, who portrays the ringleader of the group. These alone are enough to compensate for the silliness of much of the action, the corniness of the jokes (with irritating cue music in case we couldn't pick up on the corn on our own) and the stickiness of the sentimentality. And, in its own playful way, the movie makes some important points about the intense pressure placed on Indian children to achieve beyond their parents' wildest expectations, and about the need to pursue the path that will make one most happy in life.
It's a pretty entertaining feature, overall; I just wish it didn't take so darn long to play itself out.