Movie Preview : 3 Idiots

So said Pink Floyd in their well-known hit. Mucho similar thoughts have been aired about oppressive education – the kinds that does not allow the student to think for himself. “3 idiots” harps on the same chord. We have 3 supposed idiots come to study in an engineering academy. Why ? Because their parents pre-ordained it. Out of the three only one is a “free-thinker” come to study just because he wants to learn. The other two are just more fodder for the education mill. But things change with association, when these two meet the one.

Of course, that one is something special. He’s named Rancho, really Ranchod. And a word about that – who actually names their kid Ran-chod ? Ran = battle-field, Chod = leave, i.e.; one who runs away from the battle-field – a loser. People name their kids Ranvijay, i.e.; one who is victorious on the battle-field – a winner, but Ranchod ?

Anyway the film high-tails it across the education experience of these three, especially Rancho’s head-butts with a professor, Viru Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani), and his romance with Sahastrabudhhe’s daughter Pia (Kareeena Kapoor). But one day Rancho disappears. Why ? The two remaining idiots embark on a quest to find out. On their journey, they remember a long forgotten bet, crash a wedding, and become part of the congregation at a funeral that goes out of control. But after all this do they find what they have set out to seek ?.

“Three idiots” is rumored to be based on Chetan Bhagat’s book “Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT”. The director has denied it, but Bhagat who earlier helped spawn the forgettable “Hello”, had this to say :

”The director took my book as the base but he has changed it according to his requirements. He took permission from me before taking my story, but has not involved me in making it into the final script. But, he has shown me the final script and I have liked it too.”

The film stars Aamir Khan as the irrepressible Rancho, Madhavan as Farhan Qureshi and Sharman Joshi as Alok. Kajol makes a special appearance. It is directed by Rajkumar Hirani (of Munnabhai fame) and is a Vidhu Vinod Chopra production. Music is by Shantanu Moitra, and lyrics are penned by Swanand Kirkire, both of whom also worked on “Welcome to Sajjanpur”

This coming-of-age/self-actualization flick hits theatres December 25th 2009.