Three Idiots

This is a wonderful film which transcends labels like 'Asian Cinema' or 'Bollywood' and indeed, you don't need to be a fan of either to get a lot out of this film though at the very least, you should not mind subtitles too much. If you can get past that you will get to see one of the greatest films of your life, on a par with movies like Shawshank Redemption that are just classic feelgood movies. The story is that two friends and a rival of theirs meet up hoping to meet their friend Rancho who vanished after going to the same engineering college with them. The days when they met him, getting to know him and all their adventures and shared experiences is displayed using flashbacks, there are a few songs but not many, and not enough to distract from the plot of the occasional song and dance is not your cup of tea. There is a serious side to the movie which is easy to ignore, the theme of the pressures inherent in Indian society, boys should become engineers, girls should become doctors and the resultingly high suicide rates among students there. Even the caste system is scorned by Rancho and his open and vibrant philosophy of doing what you love. I found the film amusing but not hilarious its just such a great journey and you have time over the 170 minutes (It won't feel that long) to feel like you're one of them and the ending itself is about as neat and happy as anyone could want. I watched it recently on Channel 4 (It prompted me to own a copy) and the subtitles on the dvd version are not quite as good in some bits but it probably won't detract from the movie at all. The acting is great from everyone except maybe Chatur whose toadying and boasting may have been a little overdone. Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor are the male and female leads and are perfect for their roles. If this gives you a taste for Indian movies a nice follow up might be 'Asoka', 'My Name is Khan' or 'Like Stars on Earth' / 'Ghajini' if you want to see more of Aamir Khan, though I can't comment on the latter two as I haven't yet seen them. Coming back to look at this review a few weeks after I posted it I wonder if I praised it highly enough. I mean for better or worse, people give 5 stars to films they liked quite a lot, I've done the same - so what do you give those movies that are truly magical and wonderful and stand head and shoulders above so many other 'good' films? Despite the length of this movie I've watched it at least 10 times by now, and could happily watch it without the subtitles since I know all the lines. Still, I plan to watch it many more times, and introduce all my friends to it. Almost everyone will enjoy this modern classic and its a great family film. Watch this film as soon as you can.

Daughter no.2's boyfriend is studying for a degree in film production, and this week's homework has been to watch "3 Idiots" [student life's not overly challenging me thinks]. Now a Bollywood comedy probably wouldn't have been my first choice of movie, too low a bodycount for me, but for the sake of domestic harmony the Memsahib and I sat down with Daught#2 and B'friend for three hours of subtitles [with our fingers crossed]. But put aside any preconceptions about Bollywood boy-meets-girl melodrama and big dance scenes, because this isn't that, this is just a fantastic fun movie from start to finish. It's a coming of age movie centred around three engineering students, the titular "3 Idiots", but unlike so many Hollywood coming of age movies this is joyful with some truly comic laugh out loud moments; yes there are moments of pathos but it never wallows in pity, these enrich the story. And what's more it's just beautiful to watch and hear, the cinematography is fabulous with a rainbowful of bright colours that tease while the soundtrack is superb capturing the noise of India. But it's a coming of age movie so underneath it all there is a serious message but this isn't a cutesy schmaltzy Hollywood message about growing-up; it's about the pressures and expectations that parents load onto their kids to succeed in exams, messages that are perhaps more pertinent in the third world than the first where the difference between opportunities taken and opportunities lost are more acute. Oh, and OK there are some of those Bollywood cast-of-1000s dance sequences, cue eyes closing, but these are so tongue in cheek they just add to comedy.

I believe that this is the first Bollywood film I have seen. It has opened a door to a very different World. The nature of the Indian people - both the negatively stubborn grip on dogma, and the warmth of the social side of their nature - was a delightful change from the fare from Hollywood. That the film is punctuated by delightful music and occasional dances is true to the Bollywood style, and shows the Indian love of life and how they do not take life too seriously. I was so enamoured by these people that I plan to spend a month in India on holiday. This is one of the best films I have ever seen (and I have seen many). The sharp and penetrating writing, choreography, vibrant colours, perfect casting, great acting, unpredictable twists and turns, the camera work, and those vibrant colours! The dance/song in the middle of the film made me cry. It is like a dream sequence and so beautifully captured that I want to watch it again and again. It is funny also. I found it funny also that the actors would randomly switch from Hindu to English and back again. I also bought "Like stars on earth" because I was so impressed by Aamir Khan - the lead role in the film. That film confirmed my belief that Aamir really believed in the ideas underlying the film - it comes across that the film was a vehicle for expressing the unspoken, the taboo, to the Indian people that they all wanted to hear, but delivered from the heart. I cannot recommend it highly enough but do be warned that it is about 3 hours long. Do not worry about the need to see subtitles - this had minimal impact on the viewing.

様々な映画を観てきましたが、ベスト5に入る映画！

Another fantastic movie.

Another great movie from Amir. He has proved that he is a great genius with his movie 'Three Idiots'. The movie make fun of the prevailing educational system in our country. which gives importance to rot learning stifling creativity and imagination. He also ridicule the obsession with costly things.He rightly points out that if the watch that costs one crore Indian rupees and the one that costs just hundred rupees show same time.why should one go after such costly things? He exposes our snobbery very well.

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Une amie m'a dit, après avoir vu ce film, "C'est une vrai leçon de vie". Je crois qu'en effet, ces paroles qualifient bien ce chef d'oeuvre indien. C'est l'histoire de trois indiens à la fac, qui vont apprendre qu'il faut suivre ses propres envies, et ne pas se laisser influencer par ce que leur disent leur parents, qu'ils considèrent comme juste pour eux. Drôle, attachant, poignant parfois, on se retrouve dans le film... Il est tout simplement magique !