The famous controversial war between Chetan Bhagat, writer of the best seller ’Five Point Someone’ on which the film is based & the team of ’3 Idiots’ forced me to read the book first & then watch the film. My DP ’The 4th Idiot’ was inspired by this incident.
Finally after having read the book, I watched the film & have reached to the conclusion that had the credits of the film read ’3 Idiots based on a book Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat’ ’Screenplay for the film by Raj Kumar Hirani & Abhijit Joshi’, the controversy wouldn’t have occurred. Because the film does have few scenes, which are straight lift from the book, but then the motive behind the controversy seems to be something else as the screenplay is different from the book.
Last week when I was in a book store at Vizag I was surprised to see the book in Telugu, so it has worked in the favour of both CB & 3 idiots, courtesy many idiots. ’Idioton ki kami nahin Ghalib, ek dhoondo hazaar miltey hain’ I am no exception - didn’t I read the book.
But that’s one side of the coin with grey shades (read as tricks of the trade) & the other side is beautiful but not spotless. Vinod Chopra is not an ordinary name as he carries the list of quality films made by him & post Munna bhai series his combination with Raj Kumar Hirani creates excitement among the viewers, which raises the graph of expectations to the maximum heights.
The film narrates the story of Aamir Khan, R. Mahadevan & Sharman Joshi, their relations & journey of life from boys to men. Takes a peep into the Indian education system and does raise an unanswered question.
Even though the basic plot of the film is borrowed from the book but the screenplay by Raj Kumar Hirani & Abhijit Joshi is different & with the former at the director’s seat. the film turned out to be a good entertainer.
If Munnabhai MBBS showed glimpses of the medical institution then 3 Idiots takes you through the lanes of Engineering educational system but is stung by commercialisation as aal is well replaces the 3 magical words jaadu ki japphi. The best thing is the film doesn’t preach, which keeps it away from boredom.
The film starts in flash back as Madhavan & Sharman leaves for Simla to meet Aamir & the film keeps entertaining till the interval point with some real funny moments & sensible handling of the subject by Raj Kumar Hirani. The ragging scenes, the suicide by a student, Aamir-Kareena encounter, family back ground of Sharman & Madhavan, confrontations with professors, etc are well written & executed. You can’t ignore the hilarious speech given by Chatur Ramalingam, which brings the house down.
But unfortunately the second half though good but does has its share of flaws, which deserves to be mentioned as Aamir Khan is known for selecting foolproof scripts & the last 30 minutes of the film though passable yet looks so filmy. The delivery scene & child coming to life with aal is well, is not digestible as the film comes from a name who believes in quality cinema. And moreover it has Aamir Khan in the lead who prefers foolproof scripts. Wasn’t he allowed to give his suggestions? Thats a question, not an allegation.
The music of the film is just OK with some ordinary lyrics that did suit the premise of the film but will not live with you once your have left the theater.
The photography is flawless.
Omi Vaidya who played the role of Chatur Ramalingam is excellent.
Boman Irani has the ability to get into the skin of the character that he is playing & he does a very commendable job here too. I didn’t carry my anti-virus kit with me & will now have to check if I am infected with BOMAN virus.
Kareena Kapoor, Sharman Joshi and Madhavan have given excellent performances.
Raj Kumar Hirani gets 9.5 out of 10 for his job is a writer and director. At least we have someone from whom we can expect something different.
Aamir Khan’s infatuation with names continues as his journey from Raghu Jaitley to Amar Damji to Rancho spells his soft corner for wierd names. And he performs well would be an understatement. He is what he is - GENIUS. Hats off to him.
Overall a very good film with minor flaws. I can’t say go for it as I seem to be the last person who watched it :)