3 Idiots
Tags: flashback, satire, romantic, inspiring, plot twist, entertaining, prank

Plot synopsis:
Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Rancchoddas "Rancho" Shyamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) are three engineering students who share a room in a hostel at the Imperial College of Engineering, one of the best colleges in India. While Farhan and Raju are average students from modest backgrounds, Rancho is from a rich family. Farhan wants to become a wildlife photographer, but has joined engineering college to fulfil his father's wish. Raju on the other hand wants to uplift his family fortunes. Rancho is a wealthy genius who studies for the sheer joy of it. However, Rancho's passion is for knowledge and taking apart and building machines rather than the conventional obsession of the other students with exam ranks. With his different approach Rancho incurs the wrath of dean of college, Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe (ViruS) (Boman Irani). Rancho irritates his lecturers by giving creative and unorthodox answers, and confronts ViruS after fellow student Joy Lobo hangs himself in his dormitory room. Joy had requested an extension on his major project on compassionate groundshis father had suffered a strokebut ViruS refused, saying that he himself was completely unmoved by his own son's accidental death after being hit by a train. Rancho denounces the rat race, dog-eat-dog, mindless rote learning mentality of the institution, blaming it for Lobo's death.Threatened by Rancho's talent and free spirit, ViruS labels him an "idiot" and attempts on a number of occasions to destroy his friendship with Farhan and Raju, warning them and their parents to steer clear of Rancho. In contrast, ViruS model student is Chatur Ramalingam or "Silencer", (Omi Vaidya) who sees a high rank at the prestigious college as his ticket to higher social status, corporate power, and therefore wealth. Chatur conforms to the expectations of the system. Rancho humiliates Chatur, who is awarded the honour of making a speech at an award ceremony, by substituting obscenities into the text, which has been written by the librarian. As expected, Chatur mindlessly memorises the speech, without noticing that anything is amiss, partly aided by his lack of knowledge on Hindi. His speech becomes the laughing stock of the audience, infuriating the authorities in the process.Meanwhile, Rancho also falls in love with ViruS' medical student daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor) when he, Raju and Farhan crash her sister's wedding banquet in order to get a free meal, in the process further infuriating ViruS.Meanwhile, the three students continue to anger ViruS, although Rancho continues to come first in every exam, while Chatur is always second, and Farhan and Raju are inevitably in the last two positions. The tensions come to a head when the three friends, who are already drunk, break into ViruS's house at night to allow Rancho to propose to Pia, and then urinate on a door inside the compound before running away when ViruS senses intruders. The next day, ViruS threatens to expel Raju lest he talks on the other two. Unable to choose between betraying his friend or letting down his family, Raju jumps out of the 3rd floor window and lands on a courtyard, but after extensive care from Pia and his roommates, awakes from a coma.The experience has changed Farhan and Raju, and they adopt Rancho's outlook. Farhan decides to pursue his love of photography, while Raju takes an unexpected approach for an interview for a corporate job. He attends in plaster and a wheelchair and gives a series of non-conformal and frank answers. However, ViruS is unsympathetic and vows to make the final exam as hard as possible so that Raju is unable to graduate. Pia hears him and angrily confronts him, and when ViruS gives the same ruthless reply he gives to his students, she denounces him in the same way that Rancho did over the suicide of Lobo. Pia reveals that Viru's son and her brother was not killed in an accident but committed suicide in front of a train and left a letter because ViruS had forced him to pursue a career in engineering over his love for literature; ViruS always mentioned that he unsympathetically failed his son on the ICE entrance exams over and over to every new intake of ICE students. After this, Pia walks out on the family home, and takes ViruS's spare keys with her. She tells Rancho of the exam, and he and Farhan break into ViruS's office and steals the exam and give it to Raju, who with his new-found attitude, is unconcerned with the prospect of failing, and refuses to cheat and throws the paper away. However, ViruS catches the trio and expels them on the spot. However, they earn a reprieve when Viru's pregnant elder daughter Mona (Mona Singh) goes into labour at the same time. A heavy storm cuts all power and traffic, and Pia is still in self-imposed exile, so she instructs Rancho to deliver the baby in the college common room via VOIP, after Rancho restores power using car batteries and a power inverter that Rancho had dreamed up and ViruS had mocked. Rancho then delivers the baby with the help of a cobbled-together Vacuum extractor.After the baby is apparently stillborn, Rancho resuscitates it. ViruS reconciles with Rancho and his friends and allows them to take their final exams and they graduate. Rancho comes first and is awarded ViruS's pen, which the professor had been keeping for decades before finding a brilliant enough student to gift it to.Their story is framed as intermittent flashbacks from the present day, ten years after Chatur vowed revenge on Rancho for embarrassing him at the speech night and promised to become more successful than Rancho a decade later. Having lost contact with Rancho, who disappeared during the graduation party and went into seclusion, Raju and Farhan begin a journey to find him. They are joined by Chatur, now a wealthy and successful businessman, who joins them, brazenly confident that he has surpassed Rancho. Chatur is also looking to seal a deal with a famous scientist and prospective business associate named Phunsukh Wangdu. Chatur sees Wangdu, who has hundreds of patents, as his ticket to further social prestige. When they find Rancho's house, they walk into his father's funeral, and find a completely different Rancho Jaaved Jaffrey. After accusing the new man of stealing their friend's identity and profiting from his intellect, the host pulls a gun on them, but Farhan and Raju turn the tables by seizing the father's ashes and threatening to flush them down the toilet. The householder capitulates and says that their friend was a destitute servant boy who loved learning, while he, the real Rancho, was a lazy wealthy child who disliked study, so the family agreed to let the servant boy study in Rancho's place instead of labouring. In return, the real Rancho would pocket the qualifications and the benefits thereof, while the impersonator would sever all contact with the world and start a new life. The real Rancho reveals that his impersonator is now a schoolteacher in Ladakh.Raju and Farhan then find Pia, and take her from her wedding day to Suhas by performing the same tricks with his material possessions, and having Raju turn up to the ceremony disguised as the groom and eloping with Pia in public. When they arrive in Ladakh, they see a group of enthusiastic Ladakhi children who are motivated by love of knowledge. Pia and the fake Rancho rekindle their love, while Chatur mocks and abuses Rancho the schoolteacher before walking away. When his friends ask what his real name is, he reveals that it Phunsukh Wangdu and phones Chatur, who has turned his back, to turn around and meet his prospective business partner. Chatur is horrified and falls to his knees, accepts his defeat and continues to plead his case with Phunsukh to establish the business relationship he was after.

Review: But I don't want to spoil a single wonderful moment, so my advice is just sit back and watch--and if you give it a chance, I can almost guarantee you'll have a great time with this poignant and funny film.
This is the very first time i write a review, mostly because I'm very lazy.However I just watched this film and i gotta admit it...I loved it!!!!At first i was like well "lets see what this movie has to offer"(btw its also the first Indian movie I've ever seen) and I was like okayits funny and then...
The movie makes you laugh and in the process you learn many golden rules which can alter your life in a big manner...3 actors from the path-breaking blockbuster RANG DE BASANTI( Aamir, Sharman, Madhvan) team up together with Rajkumar Hirani..
Loosely based on blockbuster novel ' Five Point Someone ' by Chetan Bhagat the movie deals with the present education system in India that whether getting more marks and better grades is better than gaining knowledge and is mugging up everything more useful than understanding it..The movie has many hilarious scenes and everyone in the film form Aamir to Boman Irani to Omi Vaidya were superb in their roles..
Raju Hirani's screenplay(you can easily ignore a few loose points) is a masterpiece and the film will achieve cult status for engineering students in a short period of time..
Madhavan), jittery, fearful Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and borderline prodigy Ranchhoddas "Rancho" Shamaldas Chhanchad (Aamir Khan), three close friends who attend the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE), one of India's most prestigious colleges where only the best are accepted.
If you're passionate and devoted to your work, success will find you - yet this is only one of the countless morals and insights 3 Idiots provide its viewer with.The film chronicles their issues in college in flashback, with instances in the presence popping up to show Farhan and Raju searching for their pal Rancho, who has disappeared and avoided contact for several years now.
You're given the unalienable freedom to raise your kids with the method you choose, but not every method is perfect, and when your method is one of the ones that leads to suicide, mental health problems, and perpetuates fear and anxiety in the minds of teenagers, then you may want to reevaluate your methods.3 Idiots also provides us with the idea that many Indian children are told what to become in life early and are discouraged from exploration or even personal ambition.
If other Bollywood works have characters drawn along the same lines of being relatable, human, and easily accessible and not biased towards race or social class, I can't see it being a struggle to get through any of the industry's films.Through every quick-witted song and dance number, through every comedic scene, through every instance of dramatic despair, emotionally alive moment, solemnly poignant sequence, suspenseful setup, to a lovely, heartfelt conclusion, 3 Idiots is a wonderful, invaluable endeavor in the world of film.
As the journey starts off, their college life and old memories of their friendship, with a unique free-thinker Rancho who inspired them and changed their lives, are unfolded through flashbacks and followed with some twists and turns...My Views 3 Idiots looks at our educational system which pressurizes the students and does not allow to chose his destination by his own wish, in a satirical way and brings out some of the flaws in it...
Just like that Aamir and Raju has chased excellence and success is following them...So to sum up, Aamir and Hirani has delivered the best movie of 2009...
brilliant and highly entertaining.Watch 3 idiots for a) amir khan's incredible acting b) intelligent and highly energatic screenplay & direction (Rajkumar Hirani has done it yet again!) c) amazing chemistry among actors, d) some of the best comedy scenes coming from Indian cinema in a long time and e) a heart warming story which keeps you spell binded right till the end.I would rate it as among the best from amir khan (which obviously means among the very best from bollywood.
A wonderful experience to watch as every single actor from Sharman, Madhavan, Boman, Kareena & Aamir deliver probably the best performance in a movie this year.Sharman & Madhavan start off on a journey to seek out their friend Rancho.
Aamir's ability to transform himself convincingly from the super-huge well-built temporary amnesia patient on a revenge spree in Ghajini to this whacked out college student, which is half the age he played in last movie shows his prowess as a master actor to transcend age barriers to play almost every role in the book.This is THE best movie of 2009.
It's a movie that made me laugh uncontrollably at some points, shed tears at other points and think all the time.It's about friendship, dream, love and college education.
Aamir (what a actor he is!!!)is excellent as Rancho ,Madhavan and Sharman are perfectly in sync(watch both of them in drunk scene), Kareena is OK,Boman played director's character as good as it was possible,Omi was top notch (watch Chamatkar \Balatkar scene),But whenever the team wins credit goes to captain,and here the captain is Rajkumar hirani.He gave 'Jaadu Ki Jhappi 'in MB,'Gandhigiri' in LRMB and now he says 'ALL IZZ WELL' and believe me he is 100% right.Dialogues: Witty with humor and to the point, Chamatkar \Balatkar scene is one of the best comic scenes .
Music: Shantanu Moitra's music also have a role in the movie,all the songs come alive on the screen,(watch Zoobie-Doobie and Aal Izz Well)FINAL WORDS: its like a marriage between RDB and Lage Raho Munnabhai.
this movie has a lot of things to tell us ..it shows us the extremely huge power of the mind and when the people are free,use their minds correctly and do what they really love as a job in their lives and not what the other people say to them,only then they success,and most of all they are happy and they can live every time of their lives..a movie with so much fun and suspense,with so great direction gives a so inspired result,and everyone will be full of emotions and optimism..i really thought that bollywood was some kind of parody,but without so much fun,without good direction and a lot of things like these..i am really sorry for that but i couldn't know..i thought that they were extemporaneous...fortunately,that movie made me wrong..it showed me that the films from east have so much fantasy and inspiration that i could never imagine..you have to see it!!.
Yet when I hear stories of a fifteen year old inventing a new groundbreaking cancer test, I can't help but feel a little prideful of being the partial product of American schooling.But while the Chinese seem to be stumbling, India has really stepped up, or at least the film 3 Idiots (2009) would have you believe it.
Great movie, is my first time i watched a Bollywood movie and i was very satisfied!!Very good acting from all...
It's a wake up call that we should be pursuing Excellence instead, which in the work environment one gets easily drowned in mediocrity, or blind faith that success follows without putting in too much hard work.Set predominantly in the varsity days and told in chunks of flashback, this film will allow you to reminisce about a time where life was nothing but exams, lectures, and that paper chase, either making the grade or having to repeat.
Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi), two mediocre students who just scrape through, and the one huge influence in their lives, ace student Rancho (Aamir Khan), the livewire of the trio who irks the Dean of Imperial College of Engineering (modelled after the famed Indian Institute of Technology), Professor Viru (Virus), played by Boman Irani.
Everything falls into place at the end, especially telling of the second act when you learn of this secret at the cliffhanger prior to the interval, and this provides yet another emotional sucker punch to your gut when themes like friendship lasting forever starts entering the picture.Chase excellence and success will follow; this film lived up to that tagline in being one of the most excellent I've watched this year.
I have a 17 year old daughter preparing for college;this morning i told her to watch the movie and even to invite her schoolmates to watch it together.The movie is really entertaining,very well directed,the actors trying to do their best.İt has all the features of Indian cinema,colorful,bright,dancing sequences,songs.I want to believe in rancho's philosophy,though unfortunately i am aware that those thoughts are very naive regarding the real world of jungle.all college students,the ones preparing to be and most importantly,their parents should spare some time for this movie.if all the people in the world behaved like that all would be so fine:)thanks to all the production and casting crew...
For those who look up to it as the beginning of a trend of quality satire movies in bollywood, I am afraid its a false dawn.I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed many zany comedies, but those movies are different because they don't try to simulate real world situations unlike a movie based on a serious subject like 3 Idiots.
Having said that, it is enjoyable to watch, being full of lighthearted humour, which makes it worth a watch and I wonder had it stuck to a saner storyline, it could really have been the masterpiece that many have made it out to be anyways.Also, since its focused largely, if not entirely on Aamir Khan and the other two so called central characters don't play enough of a role, the movie doesn't seem to warrant the title 3 Idiots.Its kind of disappointing to see people adulating and hailing this movie as something which is class apart, if it is so, we can and will have to raise that class..
I won't say much about the plot (my summary is about as much as I'd like to give away), as I watched the movie pretty blind of what was to unfold and I really felt swept away in what at times felt like an epic journey of twists and turns; nothing too ridiculous to prompt a 'WTF?!' response, I felt the pace of the film moved really nicely along with realistic and believable scenarios interjected not for shock value but to aid the storytelling.
As a final note, if someone was to ask me 'what makes a great movie?', I'd probably answer something like this; It should make me laugh and maybe cry, then come away thinking more about the film and its underlying meanings.
A lot of what is portrayed in this film about life in engineering school is very real and true, and I think this is what makes this movie very easy to relate to for a lot of people.
I had to write a review because of how amazed I was by this incredible movie,I was also surprised that their is only one review.This movie will not only deliver a message but will also be very entertaining delivering the message.I was not bored at all nothing was wrong,my unprofessional opinion is that this movie has no flaws.The message is very clear in this movie (chase excellence success will follow)The acting was really stunning, Aamir Khan was great ,Madhavan and Sharman Joshi were as great and of-course Boman Irani(college directer) we can't ask for a better performance.I also have to say Rajkumar Hirani (the real director) did a great job.I seriously think if this movie is in America it would win an Oscar in Best Picture,Best Directing,Best Actor in a Leading Role,Best Actor in a Supporting Role,Best Music..
The first time I watched this film it was a great surprise, because I've never liked Bollywood films and I didn't know what to expect.
It has a little bit of everything and even the few musical parts of the movie fits perfectly.Directed with a perfect rhythm, this movie rebels against the actual educational system in which the more important is to pass tests but not really achieving new skills than really learns something that is going to be useful.Rancho, the main character of the film, is introduced to the audience as an idealist who defies the system not caring about the consequences, his one and only concern is study hard for learning and achieve new skills.
An amazing character that should inspire who watches the film.Definitely this movie is not what it looks at first sight, it is a great, unforgettable and inspirational film that gets into the bottom of the heart..
This may be among the very best India has to offer or it just seems that way to me.Like so many Indian films, this is a very, very long film--with a run-time of almost three hours.
This may be among the very best India has to offer or it just seems that way to me.Like so many Indian films, this is a very, very long film--with a run-time of almost three hours.
When a movie is bad or just okay, this can seem like forever, but since "3 Idiots" is a very, very good film I loved its length.
When a movie is bad or just okay, this can seem like forever, but since "3 Idiots" is a very, very good film I loved its length.
"3 Idiots" is a film that goes from the present time, to flashbacks of the lead characters' college days in engineering school.
Talking about unexpected When you see the title of the movie and know that it was best grossing Bollywood film that went around the world as a hit all around – well, you expect something watered down, something for everyone.
This particular film is atrocious.I went to see it with my friend hoping to see a good film.It turned out I wanted to leave the theater in around 15 minutes.It has crass humor.jokes on rapes.I don't know why the idiotic Indian audiences rated it so high.This film shouldn't be rated at all.I hate this film,with all my heart.I never thought Aamir Khan would do such a horrible film.This film ensured me to not go out and watch Dhoom 3.I know people have hated chetan bhagat a lot but he wrote something very mediocre that deserved a mediocre film.Five point someone had drugs and music.This film had crap and more crap.
If you don't like fart jokes, don't watch this movie, or read Benjamin Franklin, either.India turns out a lot of films.
The cinematography is great.Performance wise-Even though everyone act well in their respective roles.It is Omi Vaidya who shines as Chatur Ramalingam.Remove him,3 Idiots would have ended up being dull.Watch his speech scene and its sure going to make you laugh.Aamir Khan is excellent as Phunsukh Wangdu.Sharman Joshi as Raju Rastogi is also good.Madhavan is amazing as Farhan Qureshi.Boman Irani is stupendous as Viru Sahsrabudhe aka VIRUS.Kareena Kapoor is okay.Overall 3 Idiots is Bollywood's masterpiece..
On Christmas day my family and I went to watch a new Bollywood movie called 3 Idiots.
This is a recommended watch, whether it is in theaters or on DVD, this movie is a definite 'feel good' film that the whole family will enjoy.
I think most people rating it so high must have seen it just once, if you give it more than one viewing you will start to see the flaws.The movie is just average in my opinion as the story is predictable, most of the jokes are copied and even the social message in the movie is quite broad.I will say this the movie is definitely worth watching and is a feel good movie but does not deserve to be up there with the best movies ever made..
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).
As the journey starts off, their college life and old memories of their friendship, with a unique free-thinker Rancho who inspired them and changed their lives, are unfolded through flashbacks and followed with some twists and turns...My Views 3 Idiots looks at our educational system which pressurises the students and does not allow to chose his destination by his own wish, in a satirical way and brings out some of the flaws in it...
Music was good and well placed with the flow of the narration...Coming to performances, all of them comes out with convincing portrayals, but it is Aamir Khan, the real showman of Bollywood, steals the shows with yet another stellar portrayal and will go down as one of his best performances.
Music was good and well placed with the flow of the narration...Coming to performances, all of them comes out with convincing portrayals, but it is Aamir Khan, the real showman of Bollywood, steals the shows with yet another stellar portrayal and will go down as one of his best performances.
I saw this movie on Thursday on its first show this is one of superb movie made in this decade in Indian Cenema Plot is superb, Acting is superb, Songs are superb..The story of 3 idiots has been told differently and most importantly, the story offers so many twists-n-turns that you just can't guess what would unfold next.There's so much happening in every scene and the screenplay is so gripping that you don't feel the need to look at the auditorium ceiling or at your watch at brief intervalsThe movie has many hilarious scenes and everyone in the film form Aamir to Omi Vaidya (Silencer) were superb in their roles..
Aamir did a great Job, this is One of his Best movie.....Other Actors like Mahadevan and Sharman Joshi are also Superb.
Another point to be noted is, Rajkumar Hirani has done an exceptional job in getting a college student out of all 3 actors (Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman)I strongly recommend watching this movie.
But if they are able to put that aside, they would too probably enjoy the funny moments that this movie provides and would end up saying that this is the best Bollywood film they have ever seen..