3 idiots

Aamir Khan-the perfectionist, Raju Hirani-the good old-fashioned director, Vidhu Chopra-the unconventional producer and 3 Idiots-a pathetic screen adaption of a cult classic. There lies the gist of everything I'm about to say.

I watched the movie with lot of expectations, thanks not just to the cast and crew but to a lot of my friends who said it was one of the finest movies of the year. I know I should have gone to the film with an open mind but it ain't my fault that I was anticipating a lot. In the first place, Raju Hirani shouldn't have claimed it to be a adaption. Apart from the fact that it really wasn't, all of us who had read the book were fiercely protective about our idea of all the characters. And since we could never find a Ryan, no one should've messed with the idea called Ryan Oberoi.

Well, it seems Hirani was courageous enough into adopting only the basic setting of the book and Chetan Bhagat was happy with it. Let me finish talking about the film first. Everyone knows the story. Set in a fictional Engineering college called the ICE(IIT!), Raju, Farhan and Rancho are roommates and so their collective fate is sealed for the next four years. ViruS, the head of the institute is someone who's happy churning out robots year after year for the American market. And Rancho is this free thinker who has a problem with the system and tries to correct it. The setting's done. Let the story unfold. No, that is the story. That's it. The entire film is about glamourising Rancho, how he changes everyone's lives(aww!) and softens ViruS' opinion on non-ICE folks. Meanwhile, in a running time of about 160 mins, Rancho repairs a hopeless flying machine of a senior, saves the lives of Raju and his father, inspires Farhan into chasing his dream, sings a song with ViruS' daughter Piya and delivers a baby on a Ping Pong table. Hold on a sec, I forgot something in his long list of mesmerising acts. Yeah, he knicks question papers for his dear friend. Holy crap! What was Hirani thinking.

And now for the performance part of it, Madhavan and Kareena maybe called a bit more than cameos, Irani's wasted in an Einstein-inspired caricature and Aamir 'awesome' Khan delivers a performance so pukable, I almost sympathised for him for such a badly written role. But I won't pity him for he considers himself to be the perfectionist, he should've seen this coming. Ryan was gone, to be replaced by Rancho who I thought was a bad grown-up version of Ishaan Awasthi(TZP hangover, eh?). He performs silly science experiments, scratches his head to show he's thinking and is dumb enough to talk to ViruS the way he does.

Where's Ryan amidst all this? Maybe its my fault too, for expecting a lot from both Hirani and Khan. Bhagat said the script was Bollywood-ised. Hirani said, the book was anectodal and so this plot was written. You call it a plot. Where I'm supposed to gasp at the Interval scene, laugh at juvenile jokes and listen to preaches about the education system. The only two guys with respectable performances were Sharman Joshi and Omi. Joshi, in not much of a role, has done a commendable job and Omi Vaidya with his histrionics has managed to turn a child joke into something deeper. Infact the guy who played Joey Lobo managed to evoke more feelings than a lot of other characters.

The songs are pretty ok, with hummable tunes. And C.K. Muraleedharan's long shots of landscapes more than please the eye. Apart from a few really funny scenes, the film fails and it fails badly. When asked, the people who hadn't read the book gave a more positive response so I suppose you can watch it if you have not read the book.

But for those who've read Five Point Someone, avoid 3 idiots.