3 Idiots

Like Dead Poets Society but with Robin Williams as a student and some extra tonic and spice thrown in for good measure. Serious, sad and silly, often concurrently but overwhelmingly very, very funny and engaging, as engineering students at an Indian college end up teaching as much as they learn. Who could disagree with the distinction between education and learning while recognising the often sizable gulf that exists between the two after watching this. Who would dissuade those with aspiration and passion from pursuing their dreams and goals. Weighing in not too shy of three hours you'll be shocked how quickly the time flies as your attention is vacuumed up and your view of the world turned on its head, or inverted, depending what you've learned.

Until recently my only exposure to Indian cinema was Satyajit Ray. Like a lot of Americans, my knowledge of Bollywood was based entirely on film clips and American take-offs of lavish musical numbers.

I searched a few lists of top Bollywood films and settled on 3 Idiots, which turned out to be a wonderful decision. The movie is terrifically funny and engaging, seamlessly moving from comedy to tragedy to musical numbers.

The story centers around a brilliant, iconoclastic technical student who spends the movie telling people to follow their dreams. While generally lighthearted, the movie strongly addresses the apparently terrible stresses on Indian college students. But in spite of some dark moments, overall this is about as feel-good as you can get. Feel-good to an absurd degree? Sure. But what's so bad about feeling good?

When I think of Bollywood I think of big musical numbers, and there are a handful here, although they're a tiny part of the three-hour running time. Still, they are tremendous fun.

To sum up, I saw a Bollywood movie, I laughed, I cried, and now I want to see more.

UPDATE: I saw more. So many good movies out there!

I asked my co-workers to recommend a Bollywood movie. I expected "Dumb and Dumber" by the title. It wasn't that at all. It is more of an inspirational comedy with some serious but good messages. A more accurate title would have been "The Legend of Rancho".

Odd to me is that they speak in part English, part Hindi through the movie, kinda like some speak "Spanglish" here I suppose. I know none of the actors but the acting was good, and there was plenty of humor. The characters were believable. Most movie dancing I find a little silly but I even liked the dancing routines in the bathroom.

I will be asking my co-workers for more recommendations after this one!

"Whatever the problem in life is... just say to yourself 'Aal Izz Well'.. This wont solve your problems but it will give the courage to face it.." "Chase Excellence and success will follow".. " Life is not about getting marks, grades but chasing your dreams".. These are the golden rules which 3 IDIOTS teaches you in a very light and entertaining way.. 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.. It couldn't get bigger! 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.. Aamir has outdone himself.. Never in the film he has looked 44 year old... Film's music sounds mediocre but when viewed on the screen then the music sounds perfect.. Cinematography is awesome and so is the direction.. 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.. It has the soul which Five Point Someone had.. It is easily Aamir Khan's finest film to date.. The film's climax is fantabulous and is a shocker.. It takes everyone by surprise...

To conclude 3 IDIOTS has the potential to break all records and sweep all awards.. Watch it... You will Love it...

My Rating: 9/10

Thanks and Regards

It's hard for me to review this film, as I have not seen a huge number of Indian films--probably no more than a couple dozen. Most of the ones I've seen were wonderfully entertaining but I am far from an expert on Bollywood. Because of this, I have a hard time knowing how good this film is relative to other films from this country. So, consider this when you read this review. 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. And, like most films of the genre, it has its share of the usual singing and dancing so foreign to films from other countries. One thing you should know, however, is that defining the type of film it is isn't really easy. Much of it is a comedy, but it also has many poignant moments (keep the Kleenex nearby), some existential moments where they explore the meaning of life and work and it's also a tender film about friendship. And, as my daughter pointed out when she saw the film, she loved that the men in the movie are not afraid to cry--something you rarely see in western films.

As for the plot, it's very long and involved and I could recount what occurs. 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. Wonderful and well worth your time--with a delightful script, wonderful characters and lots of moments that made me smile...and a few that brought me to tears. See this film.