3i

last saturday we watched '3 idiots', a comedy film, stylishly referred to as 3i. directed by raj kumar hirani,produced by vidhu vinod chopra and starring aamir khan (rancho), r madhavan. sharman joshi, kareena kapoor(pia) and boman irani(v.sahasrabudhe nicknamed virus). it is a thoroughly entertaining movie. i have not read chetan bhagat's 'five point someone'; hence,i am not able to either fuel the controversy or snuff it. the movie appeals to young and old alike. it has all the ingredients for a box-office hit combined in the right proportions.

the three musketeers do a great job. aamir khan's acting versatality is awesome. three engineering students who share a room in the hostel have joined the 'imperial college of engineering' for different reasons.one (madhavan) is fond of wild life photography but due to the insistence of his father accepts admission to the engineering college. another idiot(aamir khan) is actually extremely talented while working with any machine/contraption. engineering is in his veins but he is unconventional and is against the system of roting. the third one (sherman joshi) like the first idiot pursues engineering studies so that he will be able to pull his family out of the morass of poverty.

there is lot of fun in the competition that rancho has with the USA returned classmate (chatur ramalingam nicknamed 'silencer') who always comes second but wants to be the topper at any cost. the story is compelling and there is no dull moment. though there are no great songs,music is good. choreography is excellent and hirani's direction is outstanding. he continues in the same standard set by himself in the munnabhai series.boman irani(virus) as the autocratic head of the engineering college puts in an extraordinary performance. kareena kapoor does not have much of a role as the daughter of the principal who eventually falls in love with rancho (aamir khan)- the achilees heel of the principal.the scene where kareena uses the webcam to instruct rancho to help in the delivery of her elder sister's baby and the vaccum cleaner brought in to create a vaccum for the delivery of the child though very funny is quite original and creative.the child is stillborn but rancho breathes into the baby's mouth and resuscitates it.virus reconciles with the three idiots,allows them to take their exams and they all graduate.rancho is the topper and virus gifts him his coveted pen which he has been keeping for years only to hand over to a worthy match.raju rastogi (sherman joshi) and farhan (madhavan) share the booby prize between themselves.

the movie starts as a flashback when 'silencer' who had challenged rancho to meet exactly after ten years after their graduation to exchange notes to see who has been more succesful in their careers sees no sign of rancho at the pre-decided place of meeting. the other two idiots are summoned by text messages by the 'silencer' to jointly go in search of rancho who supposedly is in simla.the chase ends in ladakh where the genius rancho has settled down. he teaches the local school children while continuing his profession as a scientist.he has won many awards and has numerous patents to his credit.'silencer' is humbled when he realises that rancho is none other than the famous scientist(phunsukh wangdu) with whom he had drawn up an agreement to jointly start a business. he accepts defeat finally.

in sum, a great entertainer which deserves all the smashing records in the box office.as rancho says in the movie,"if you really want to do something to become someone in the world,don't run after money.create ideas that change the world. money will follow. well said aamir. tussi great hai.

if you haven't seen it yet, just drop everything and make a beeline to your nearest multiplex.you will not regret it.